You can’t imagine it, the singer states. At that moment readying for her new album launch in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and finally the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for ten years, riding high. Then in March she was found to have cancer in her breast.
The musician, actual name Jess Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The record, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an open book, addressing every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last made an album (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Later next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and she was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while all the while coping with the disease. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she underwent breast removal surgery.
She offers me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in the capital. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and oversized specs. Picture rocker vibe meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, thinking of the movie. “They used to call me that!” She grins. She is fast-thinking, irreverent and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her standup debut in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. When performing I basically roast the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was preparing for an appearance at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it looked at, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the Monday. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after eight years without an album and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure frightening and surreal. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. During crises you go on a gurney, but now I just marched with a hospital gown and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but yet Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened recently and my affected breast now appears as a odd shape.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I felt, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. They have often coincided with professional successes, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with moments of success for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career starring in the London theater in a musical (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has entered the female band Soul Deep while enrolled in the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
