You wouldn’t believe it, the singer states. There she was readying for her first album release in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and at long last the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for a decade, on top of the world. Suddenly in March she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, actual name Jess Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The record, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an candid account, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last recorded music (endometriosis, losing a baby, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Then follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while at the same time dealing with breast cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She offers me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a studio in the capital. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and big frames. Picture biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, referencing the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. She is quick, bold and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her initial standup show soon. “I enjoy humor. During performances I often tease the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was planning an performance at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d contact on the Monday. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after a long hiatus and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have shown aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She considered the operation frightening and surreal. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. During crises you roll down in a bed, but this time I just walked with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened a few months back and my right breast now resembles a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
The singer is no stranger to illness. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s used to health crises. They have often coincided with professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to remind her not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her youth, already making her debut featuring in the West End in a musical (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the trio the group 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 throat was injured 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
