You wouldn’t believe it, the singer says. At that moment gearing up for her comeback record in eight years, ecstatically in love with her current love, and at long last the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for ten years, on top of the world. Then in spring she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The musician, birth name Jess Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The album, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an candid account, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last made an album (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, broken romances, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The first single, the song No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Then second single, Living My Best Life, came out in May and she was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time coping with the disease. A month later she went public, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She offers me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.
We’re at a studio in the capital. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, blue jeans with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and oversized specs. Imagine motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the movie. “They used to call me that!” She grins. Jessie is sharp-witted, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her standup debut in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. On stage I frequently joke about the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was planning an appearance at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the Monday. By then the singer had assured herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had so much on.
“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after years away and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. During crises you roll down in a bed, but now I just strolled down with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my affected breast now appears as a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she observes, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with physical challenges. They have often coincided with career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already beginning performing in the stage in the production (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and teenage Jess has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while studying at the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a long period.”
Oi, I say, hold on, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
