‘It has pushed me to live more fully’: Jessica Cornish on cancer, comebacks and cracking China

You can’t imagine it, the singer says. At that moment preparing for her comeback record in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and finally the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for a decade, on top of the world. Then in spring she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.

The artist, actual name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The album, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an transparent story, tackling every moment of pain she’d faced since she last made an album (endometriosis, miscarriage, failed relationships, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The initial release, No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Then next release, Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while all the while coping with breast cancer. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in July she received surgical treatment.

She offers me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.

We’re at a studio in London. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and large glasses. Picture biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. Cornish is quick, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her initial standup show in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. During performances I frequently joke about the audience.”

Medical Challenges and Discovery

Cornish was preparing for an performance at the awards show when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an test, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the Monday. By then she had convinced herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.

“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after a long hiatus and four years without a single. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your biopsy results have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ 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 found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They lead you. In urgent cases you go on a gurney, but now I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, Cornish says, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “It’s terrible, but yet Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal a few months back and my right breast now resembles a odd shape.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”

The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she notes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be ideal. Illness changed that.”

A History of Health Challenges

Cornish is no stranger to illness. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. They have often coincided with peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside high points for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”

She recalls to her 11-year-old self, 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 a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward several years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the trio Soul Deep while attending the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”

Oi, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees