You couldn’t make it up, the singer states. At that moment preparing for her first album release in eight years, blissfully happy with her current love, and at long last the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for ten years, on top of the world. Suddenly in spring she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, birth name Jess Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The record, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an candid account, tackling every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, miscarriage, broken romances, gaslighting, suicide) with her usual frankness. The lead track, No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Then second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in May and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while at the same time dealing with her cancer. Four weeks after she went public, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a photo studio in the capital. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and large glasses. Imagine rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, recalling the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. Jessie is quick, irreverent and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her standup debut soon. “I enjoy humor. During performances I frequently joke about the audience.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
Cornish was planning an slot at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d call on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have shown aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. They lead you. In urgent cases you go on a gurney, but now I just marched with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened recently and my one side now resembles a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she observes, are now “different sizes. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”
A History of Health Challenges
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s familiar with health crises. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with high points for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career starring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and young Jessica has entered the trio Soul Deep while studying at the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. 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 twelve months.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees
