You couldn’t make it up, the singer remarks. There she was preparing for her first album release in eight years, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in March she was told she had breast cancer.
The artist, birth name Jess Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The record, her latest release, was supposed to be an open book, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, broken romances, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Later second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and she was giving interviews about how she was living her best life, while at the same time coping with the disease. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a studio in London. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with ornate white designs, off-white boots and big frames. Picture rocker vibe meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the movie. “They used to call me that!” She grins. Cornish is sharp-witted, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her first comedy performance next year. “I enjoy humor. When performing I basically roast the fans.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was getting ready for an performance at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d call on the Monday. By then Cornish had assured herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.
“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after eight years without an album and no new music. And she contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have come back as aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She found the surgery scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. During crises you are wheeled, but then I just walked with a gown on and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal a few months back and my affected breast now looks like a fruit under fabric.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she observes, are now “uneven. 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 rough time. So rude! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
She is familiar with health problems. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with physical challenges. They have often coincided with professional successes, acting as a reminder, or shock, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has often paired with high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her childhood, already starting her career starring in the London theater in the production (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the heart condition WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the female band Soul Deep while studying at the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a year.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
