You wouldn’t believe it, the singer remarks. There she was gearing up for her first album release in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and finally the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for a decade, riding high. Suddenly in spring she was found to have breast cancer.
The musician, birth name Jessica Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an transparent story, addressing every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicide) with her usual frankness. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Then follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, was released in May and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while dealing with her cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She offers me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a studio in the capital. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with ornate white designs, off-white boots and large glasses. Think motorcycle style meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. She is fast-thinking, bold and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her first comedy performance next year. “I like entertaining. During performances I frequently joke about the fans.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was getting ready for an slot at the awards show when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an test, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d contact on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.
“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after eight years without an album and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have shown malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but now I just marched with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “It’s terrible, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal a few months back and my affected breast now appears as a fruit under fabric.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she observes, are now “uneven. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”
Previous Struggles
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with health crises. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied moments of success for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her youth, already starting her career performing in the West End in a musical (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward six years, and teenage Jess has joined the girl group the group while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”
Oi, I say, hold on, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
