You wouldn’t believe it, the singer says. There she was readying for her new album launch in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her current love, and finally the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for ten years, riding high. Suddenly in March she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, birth name Jessica Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an transparent story, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last made an album (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Then second single, her song Living My Best Life, was released in May and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while still secretly coping with her cancer. A month later she shared the news, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
We’re at a photo studio in the capital. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, cream boots and large glasses. Imagine biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, recalling the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. Cornish is fast-thinking, bold and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show soon. “I enjoy humor. When performing I often tease the audience.”
Personal Battles and News
The artist was preparing for an performance at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the start of the week. By then she had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to face illness when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after years away and four years without a single. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have come back as high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. During crises you roll down in a bed, but this time I just walked with a gown on and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but however Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal recently and my affected breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is familiar with health problems. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in health crises. They have often coincided with career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has often paired with moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut featuring in the West End in the production (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and teenage Jess has joined the girl group the group while studying at the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees
