You wouldn’t believe it, the singer says. At that moment gearing up for her first album release in eight years, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and finally the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was told she had breast cancer.
The musician, real name Jess Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The album, her latest release, was meant as an candid account, addressing every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, miscarriage, failed relationships, gaslighting, suicide) with typical candour. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Then next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in May and the artist was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while living with her cancer. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in early July she had a mastectomy.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a studio in London. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with ornate white designs, beige footwear and large glasses. Picture motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. She is fast-thinking, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show soon. “I like entertaining. During performances I often tease the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was getting ready for an slot at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have come back as malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She considered the operation frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. During crises you are wheeled, but then I just marched with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but however Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened four months ago and my right breast now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, acting as a reminder, or shock, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with moments of success for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut starring in the West End in the production (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and teenage Jess has become part of the girl group the group while studying at the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
