You couldn’t make it up, the singer says. There she was gearing up for her comeback record in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and finally the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for a decade, feeling invincible. Suddenly in spring she was found to have breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, actual name Jessica Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an transparent story, dealing with every moment of pain she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The first single, No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Later next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and the artist was talking to press about how she was thriving, while at the same time living 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 release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
We meet at a photo studio in London. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and oversized specs. Imagine motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. She is quick, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her standup debut next year. “I enjoy humor. When performing I often tease the fans.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was preparing for an slot at the awards show when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it looked at, had an test, and they said, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have come back as malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ My initial thought 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 dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. During crises you roll down in a bed, but this time I just strolled down with a gown on and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal four months ago and my affected breast now looks like a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! It’s funny because I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
Cornish is familiar with health problems. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s used to health crises. Frequently they align with peak moments, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her youth, already starting her career featuring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and young Jessica has become part of the trio Soul Deep while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a year.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees
