You wouldn’t believe it, the singer remarks. There she was preparing for her new album launch in eight years, blissfully happy with her current love, and finally the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for ten years, riding high. Then in spring she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The musician, birth name Jess Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The album, her latest release, was intended as an candid account, tackling every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, losing a baby, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Then next release, her song Living My Best Life, came out in May and she was giving interviews about how she was living her best life, while at the same time dealing with breast cancer. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.
She offers me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
We’re at a studio in the capital. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and big frames. Think rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the film. “They used to call me that!” She grins. Cornish is quick, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her initial standup show soon. “I love making people laugh. During performances I often tease the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was getting ready for an slot at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an test, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d contact on the start of the week. By then she had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after eight years without an album and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have shown malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. 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 scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. They walk you down. During crises you are wheeled, but then I just strolled down with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but yet Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal recently and my one side now looks like a odd shape.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”
The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her breasts, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her childhood, already beginning performing in the West End in a musical (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the female band the group while enrolled in the academy. “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 automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
