You couldn’t make it up, the singer states. There she was readying for her new album launch in eight years, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and at long last the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for ten years, riding high. Then in spring she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The artist, real name Jessica Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The album, 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 (endometriosis, losing a baby, failed relationships, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Then second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in May and she was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while dealing with her cancer. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
We’re at a photography studio in London. She is wearing a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and big frames. Think motorcycle style meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. She is sharp-witted, bold and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I like entertaining. During performances I often tease the crowd.”
Personal Battles and News
The artist was getting ready for an appearance at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an scan, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after eight years without an album and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free 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 informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have shown aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. During crises you roll down in a bed, but now I just walked with a medical attire and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal a few months back and my affected breast now appears as a odd shape.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”
The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “uneven. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. Illness changed that.”
Previous Struggles
She is no stranger to illness. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s used to health crises. Frequently they align with peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career featuring in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and young Jessica has entered the trio the group while attending the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a year.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
