You wouldn’t believe it, the singer remarks. There she was readying for her comeback record in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and finally the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for ten years, riding high. Then in spring she was diagnosed with cancer in her breast.
The artist, actual name Jess Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an candid account, dealing with every moment of pain she’d endured since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, gaslighting, suicide) with her usual frankness. The first single, the song No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Then next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in May and Cornish was talking to press about how she was thriving, while all the while coping with breast cancer. A month later she went public, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a photography studio in the capital. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and big frames. Picture rocker vibe meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. She is quick, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her standup debut in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. On stage I basically roast the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was getting ready for an appearance at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an test, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the Monday. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was fine. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to get cancer when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great timing.’ 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. You know when you have emergency surgery you roll down in a bed, but then I just marched with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but yet Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened recently and my affected breast now appears as a odd shape.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”
The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her breasts, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
The singer is familiar with health problems. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in health crises. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, acting as a reminder, or blow, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has often paired with high points for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her childhood, already making her debut performing in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the trio Soul Deep while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a year.”
Hey, I say, wait, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
