You couldn’t make it up, the singer remarks. At that moment readying for her comeback record in eight years, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for a decade, on top of the world. Suddenly in spring she was found to have breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, real name Jessica Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The record, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an transparent story, dealing with every moment of pain she’d faced since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The first single, No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Later second single, her song Living My Best Life, came out in May and the artist was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly dealing with her cancer. Subsequently she shared the news, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
We meet at a photography studio in London. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, cream boots and big frames. Imagine biker chic meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the film. “They used to call me that!” She grins. She is sharp-witted, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is hoping to make her standup debut next year. “I enjoy humor. On stage I frequently joke about the audience.”
Personal Battles and News
She was getting ready for an performance at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an test, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘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 bad news she’d reach out on the Monday. By then the singer had assured herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after years away and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have indicated aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful 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 found the surgery scary and bizarre. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. During crises you are wheeled, but then I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal recently and my right breast now appears as a odd shape.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”
The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “uneven. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”
Past Medical Issues
She is no stranger to illness. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s used to medical emergencies. They have often coincided with career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut performing in the West End in the production (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and young Jessica has joined the girl group Soul Deep while enrolled in the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
