You wouldn’t believe it, the singer remarks. At that moment preparing for her first album release in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her current love, and finally the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for ten years, riding high. Suddenly in March she was told she had breast cancer.
The artist, birth name Jessica Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an open book, dealing with every moment of pain she’d endured since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Then follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, was released in May and the artist was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while at the same time dealing with her cancer. A month later she shared the news, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
We’re at a photography studio in the capital. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and big frames. Picture motorcycle style meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, thinking of the picture. “They used to call me that!” She beams. She is fast-thinking, irreverent and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance soon. “I enjoy humor. On stage I often tease the audience.”
Personal Battles and News
The artist was preparing for an slot at the awards show when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an test, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have indicated malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They lead you. During crises you roll down in a bed, but then I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “It’s terrible, but however Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened four months ago and my affected breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
Cornish is familiar with health problems. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic 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 be complacent. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has often paired with high points for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her youth, already beginning starring in the stage in the production (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward several years, and young Jessica has entered the girl group Soul Deep while studying at the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was about to put out music 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, wait, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees