You can’t imagine it, the singer says. At that moment preparing for her new album launch in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for ten years, on top of the world. Suddenly in March she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The artist, actual name Jessica Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an open book, tackling every moment of pain she’d faced since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Then follow-up track, Living My Best Life, was released in May and she was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time coping with her cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in early July she had a mastectomy.
She shoots me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
We meet at a studio in the capital. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and oversized specs. Picture rocker vibe meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, referencing the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. Jessie is quick, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her standup debut soon. “I enjoy humor. During performances I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Personal Battles and News
Cornish was getting ready for an performance at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d call on the Monday. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to face illness when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after a long hiatus and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have shown aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “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 viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. During crises you roll down in a bed, but now I just strolled down with a gown on and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my one side now appears as a odd shape.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I felt, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”
Previous Struggles
Cornish is familiar with health problems. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s used to health crises. They have often coincided with peak moments, acting as a reminder, or blow, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with high points for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut starring in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward several years, and teenage Jess has become part of the trio Soul Deep while attending the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a collision and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Oi, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
