You can’t imagine it, the singer states. There she was gearing up for her comeback record in eight years, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and finally the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for a decade, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The artist, real name Jessica Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The album, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an transparent story, dealing with every moment of pain she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, losing a baby, failed relationships, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The first single, the song No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Later follow-up track, Living My Best Life, came out in May and she was talking to press about how she was living her best life, while still secretly coping with her cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in July she had a mastectomy.
She offers me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a studio in London. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and oversized specs. Think biker chic meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, recalling the film. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. She is sharp-witted, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her initial standup show next year. “I like entertaining. On stage I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was preparing for an slot at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an ultrasound, 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 have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the Monday. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.
“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after years away and no new music. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have shown malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but now I just walked with a gown on and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but however Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened a few months back and my one side now resembles a fruit under fabric.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”
Past Medical Issues
She is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s experienced in physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has impacted my body.”
She takes me back to her youth, already beginning performing in the stage in a musical (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward six years, and teenage Jess has become part of the girl group the group while studying at the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a year.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
