‘It has pushed me to live more fully’: Jessica Cornish on her health battle, comebacks and cracking China
You wouldn’t believe it, the singer remarks. At that moment preparing for her comeback record in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for a decade, on top of the world. Then in spring she was found to have breast cancer.
The musician, birth name Jess Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The album, her latest release, was supposed to be an open book, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Then follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, came out in May and Cornish was talking to press about how she was thriving, while all the while coping with her cancer. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.
We’re at a photography studio in the capital. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and large glasses. Imagine biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Jessie is fast-thinking, irreverent and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her initial standup show in the coming year. “I like entertaining. During performances I often tease the fans.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was planning an performance at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an test, and they said, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the start of the week. By then she had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to get cancer when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after a long hiatus and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have shown malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She considered the operation frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They lead you. During crises you roll down in a bed, but now I just walked with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal recently and my right breast now looks like a odd shape.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
A History of Health Challenges
The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s used to health crises. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, acting as a reminder, or blow, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”
She takes me back to her childhood, already beginning starring in the stage in the production (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the heart condition WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and returning to the 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 Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a long period.”
Wow, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
