You can’t imagine it, the singer states. There she was gearing up for her first album release in eight years, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and finally the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for a decade, feeling invincible. Then in March she was diagnosed with cancer in her breast.
The musician, birth name Jessica Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an transparent story, tackling every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last made an album (endometrial issues, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Then second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in May and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly coping with her cancer. Four weeks after she went public, and in July she had a mastectomy.
She offers me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a photo studio in the capital. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with ornate white designs, off-white boots and large glasses. Imagine rocker vibe meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the picture. “They used to call me that!” She beams. Jessie is quick, bold and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her standup debut next year. “I like entertaining. On stage I basically roast the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was getting ready for an performance at the ceremony when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. 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 okay. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after eight years without an album and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I jump on the Zoom expecting it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your biopsy results have indicated aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. 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. During crises you go on a gurney, but then I just walked with a medical attire and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my affected breast now resembles a odd shape.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is familiar with health problems. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with health crises. They have often coincided with peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She reminisces to her childhood, already beginning performing in the stage in a musical (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the trio Soul Deep while attending the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Wow, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees
