You can’t imagine it, the singer states. At that moment preparing for her new album launch in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and at long last the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The musician, birth name Jess Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The album, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an transparent story, dealing with every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last made an album (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, suicide) with her usual frankness. The initial release, No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Later follow-up track, Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and she was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while coping with her cancer. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in early July she had a mastectomy.
She offers me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a studio in London. She is wearing a beige fake-leather jacket, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and large glasses. Picture biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, referencing the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. Jessie is sharp-witted, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her standup debut soon. “I love making people laugh. When performing I often tease the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was preparing for an performance at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d call on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was fine. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to get cancer when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after years away and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have come back as high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. During crises you are wheeled, but this time I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “It’s terrible, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my affected breast now appears as a odd shape.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her chest, she observes, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I felt, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
She is no stranger to illness. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in health crises. They have often coincided with peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She reminisces to her youth, already beginning starring in the stage in a musical (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the medical problem WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and young Jessica has entered the female band Soul Deep while studying at the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a year.”
Wow, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees
