You couldn’t make it up, the singer remarks. There she was readying for her first album release in eight years, deeply enamored with her current love, and at long last the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for a decade, feeling invincible. Then in March she was found to have breast cancer.
The musician, actual name Jess Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The record, her latest release, was supposed to be an transparent story, addressing every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last made an album (endometriosis, miscarriage, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Later second single, Living My Best Life, came out in May and the artist was talking to press about how she was living her best life, while at the same time dealing with her cancer. A month later she shared the news, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” look. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in London. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and big frames. Think biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. She is fast-thinking, bold and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her standup debut in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. When performing I often tease the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was planning an performance at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an test, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d contact on the start of the week. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after years away and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have come back as malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She found the surgery scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but then I just walked with a gown on and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my one side now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
Previous Struggles
The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s familiar with physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with achievements for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career starring in the stage in the production (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the female band the group while studying at the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”
Oi, I say, wait, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
