You wouldn’t believe it, the singer says. At that moment preparing for her new album launch in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for a decade, on top of the world. Then in spring she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The musician, real name Jess Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an transparent story, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, miscarriage, broken romances, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The first single, No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Later follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in May and the artist was talking to press about how she was living her best life, while at the same time dealing with the disease. Subsequently she shared the news, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.
She shoots me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in London. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and big frames. Think biker chic meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, thinking of the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Jessie is fast-thinking, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her initial standup show in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. During performances I basically roast the audience.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was preparing for an slot at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was serious she’d call on the Monday. By then Cornish had assured herself it was fine. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after years away and four years without a single. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but then I just walked with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened recently and my affected breast now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she notes, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with health crises. They have often coincided with peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut starring in the London theater in the production (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and teenage Jess has become part of the girl group the group while studying at the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Wow, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees
