You can’t imagine it, the singer states. At that moment gearing up for her new album launch in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and finally the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for ten years, riding high. Then in March she was found to have breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, real name Jess Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The LP, her latest release, was meant as an open book, dealing with every moment of pain she’d endured since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Later follow-up track, Living My Best Life, debuted in May and Cornish was talking to press about how she was living her best life, while all the while dealing with breast cancer. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She offers me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer 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, off-white boots and oversized specs. Imagine motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. Cornish is fast-thinking, bold and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. When performing I often tease the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
Cornish was getting ready for an performance at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an test, and they said, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after a long hiatus 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 jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have shown aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but then I just strolled down with a gown on and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my right breast now appears as a fruit under fabric.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she observes, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. 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.”
Past Medical Issues
She is no stranger to illness. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s used to physical challenges. They have often coincided with career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut performing in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the female band Soul Deep while enrolled in the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, hold on, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
