You wouldn’t believe it, the singer states. There she was preparing for her comeback record in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and at long last 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 artist, real name Jessica Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an transparent story, tackling every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last made an album (a gynecological condition, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, suicide) with typical candour. The first single, the song No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Then follow-up track, Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and she was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while still secretly dealing with her cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a studio in London. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with ornate white designs, off-white boots and big frames. Picture motorcycle style meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the picture. “They used to call me that!” She beams. She is quick, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. During performances I frequently joke about the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was preparing for an performance at the awards show when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an test, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the Monday. By then she had assured herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis 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, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have shown aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but now I just marched with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal recently and my one side now appears as a odd shape.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she observes, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s used to medical emergencies. Frequently they align with peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with achievements for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her youth, already making her debut starring in the stage in the production (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the girl group the group while attending the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs 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. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
