‘It has made me live life more’: Jessica Cornish on cancer, comebacks and conquering the Chinese market

You couldn’t make it up, the singer remarks. There she was gearing up for her new album launch in eight years, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and finally the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for a decade, riding high. Then in March she was found to have breast cancer.

The artist, birth name Jessica Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an transparent story, addressing every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last made an album (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicide) with characteristic openness. The first single, her single No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Then next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in May and she was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while still secretly coping with the disease. Subsequently she went public, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.

She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.

We’re at a photography studio in the capital. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and oversized specs. Think rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the movie. “They used to call me that!” She beams. Cornish is quick, irreverent and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her standup debut soon. “I love making people laugh. During performances I often tease the audience.”

Medical Challenges and Discovery

The artist was planning an appearance at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an test, and they said, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the start of the week. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to face illness when she had so much on.

“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after a long hiatus and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have shown malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”

Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am

She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. During crises you roll down in a bed, but then I just strolled down with a medical attire and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy recently and my affected breast now resembles a odd shape.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”

The next operation is for health and appearance. Her chest, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”

Previous Struggles

Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s used to health crises. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”

She takes me back to her youth, already making her debut starring in the West End in the production (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the female band Soul Deep while attending the academy. “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 throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”

Hey, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees