You couldn’t make it up, the singer remarks. At that moment gearing up for her first album release in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her current love, and at long last the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for a decade, feeling invincible. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, birth name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The album, her latest release, was supposed to be an candid account, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Then next release, Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and she was talking to press about how she was living her best life, while all the while living with the disease. Subsequently she shared the news, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “Seriously?” look. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a photography studio in the capital. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and large glasses. Think motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, thinking of the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. She is quick, irreverent and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her standup debut soon. “I love making people laugh. On stage I frequently joke about the fans.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was planning an appearance at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then she had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after years away 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 join the call believing it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘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.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. They walk you down. During crises you are wheeled, but now I just marched with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened a few months back and my affected breast now looks like a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she observes, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”
A History of Health Challenges
She is familiar with health problems. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in physical challenges. Frequently they align with professional successes, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She takes me back to her childhood, already starting her career featuring in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and young Jessica has joined the girl group Soul Deep while enrolled in 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 automobile accident and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a long period.”
Wow, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees
