You couldn’t make it up, the singer remarks. At that moment preparing for her comeback record in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for a decade, feeling invincible. Suddenly in spring she was found to have cancer in her breast.
The artist, actual name Jess Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The album, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an transparent story, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d endured since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, losing a baby, failed relationships, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The first single, No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Later second single, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in May and she was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while at the same time coping with breast cancer. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” look. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every interview, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in London. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with ornate white designs, off-white boots and large glasses. Think biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. She is fast-thinking, bold and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. On stage I basically roast the audience.”
Personal Battles and News
Cornish was planning an performance at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an test, and they said, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d call on the Monday. By then the singer had convinced herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after a long hiatus and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have indicated aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She considered the operation frightening and surreal. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. During crises you are wheeled, but this time I just marched with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened four months ago and my affected breast now appears as a odd shape.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she notes, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”
A History of Health Challenges
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. They have often coincided with peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut starring in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected 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 palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the female band the group while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
