You wouldn’t believe it, the singer says. There she was readying for her first album release in eight years, blissfully happy with her current love, and finally the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in March she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, actual name Jessica Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an candid account, addressing every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last made an album (endometriosis, losing a baby, broken romances, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The first single, the song No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Then second single, Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and Cornish was talking to press about how she was thriving, while at the same time dealing with the disease. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” she has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
We’re at a studio in the capital. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, cream boots and large glasses. Picture rocker vibe meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. She is quick, bold and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her initial standup show in the coming year. “I like entertaining. When performing I frequently joke about the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was planning an appearance at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an scan, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the start of the week. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after a long hiatus and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have come back as high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She considered the operation frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. In urgent cases you go on a gurney, but then I just strolled down with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened recently and my right breast now looks like a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
She is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s used to medical emergencies. Frequently they align with professional successes, acting as a reminder, or shock, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She takes me back to her youth, already making her debut starring in the stage in the production (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and teenage Jess has entered the trio Soul Deep while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was about to put out music in recently I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
