You wouldn’t believe it, the singer says. There she was readying for her first album release in eight years, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and finally the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in March she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The musician, actual name Jess Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an open book, tackling every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last made an album (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The first single, her single No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Then second single, her song Living My Best Life, was released in May and she was talking to press about how she was living her best life, while all the while coping with breast cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” look. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
Our interview takes place at a studio in the capital. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and big frames. Think motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the picture. “They used to call me that!” She beams. Cornish is sharp-witted, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her first comedy performance next year. “I love making people laugh. During performances I basically roast the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was getting ready for an appearance at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an test, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d call on the Monday. By then the singer had assured herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after years away and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. During crises you are wheeled, but now I just strolled down with a gown on and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but yet Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy recently and my right breast now looks like a odd shape.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. 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 hard period. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”
A History of Health Challenges
The singer is no stranger to illness. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s used to medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She takes me back to her youth, already starting her career featuring in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward several years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the female band the group while enrolled in the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
