You wouldn’t believe it, the singer says. At that moment preparing for her new album launch in eight years, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and finally the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for a decade, riding high. Then in spring she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, birth name Jessica Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The album, her latest release, was supposed to be an candid account, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, suicide) with typical candour. The first single, her single No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Then second single, Living My Best Life, debuted in May and she was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly living with breast cancer. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” look. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in the capital. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, blue jeans with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and big frames. Picture biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. Jessie is sharp-witted, bold and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is hoping to make her standup debut in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. During performances I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was preparing for an appearance at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an test, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d call on the Monday. By then she had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after years away and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have come back as malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. In urgent cases you go on a gurney, but this time I just marched with a hospital gown and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal recently and my affected breast now looks like a odd shape.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she observes, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”
Previous Struggles
She is familiar with health problems. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s familiar with health crises. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her youth, already starting her career featuring in the West End in a musical (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and young Jessica has become part of the female band Soul Deep while studying at the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Wow, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees
