You wouldn’t believe it, the singer states. There she was preparing for her new album launch in eight years, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for a decade, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was told she had breast cancer.
The artist, actual name Jess Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The album, her latest release, was intended as an candid account, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, miscarriage, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The first single, her single No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Then next release, her song Living My Best Life, came out in May and she was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while all the while living with her cancer. A month later she shared the news, and in early July she had a mastectomy.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in the capital. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and big frames. Imagine biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the film. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. Cornish is quick, bold and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her initial standup show in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. On stage I often tease the fans.”
Personal Battles and News
She was planning an performance at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it looked at, had an test, and they said, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after eight years without an album and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I assumed, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have indicated aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She found the surgery scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. They lead you. During crises you roll down in a bed, but now I just walked with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened recently and my one side now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she notes, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
The singer is familiar with health problems. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s used to health crises. Frequently they align with peak moments, acting as a reminder, or blow, to remind her not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside high points for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her childhood, already beginning featuring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the trio Soul Deep while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
