You wouldn’t believe it, the singer states. At that moment gearing up for her first album release in eight years, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for ten years, riding high. Suddenly in spring she was found to have breast cancer.
The musician, birth name Jessica Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an open book, tackling every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last made an album (endometrial issues, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Then next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in May and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while at the same time living with breast cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every interview, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in London. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and oversized specs. Think motorcycle style meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. Cornish is quick, bold and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her standup debut next year. “I love making people laugh. On stage I often tease the fans.”
Personal Battles and News
Cornish was getting ready for an appearance at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist 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 fine. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had so much on.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And she contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have come back as aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great timing.’ My initial thought 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 terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but now I just strolled down with a gown on and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal four months ago and my right breast now looks like a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she notes, are now “uneven. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Past Medical Issues
The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with physical challenges. They have often coincided with career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already beginning featuring in the London theater in the production (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the medical problem WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and young Jessica has entered the female band Soul Deep while studying at the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a collision and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Wow, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
