You can’t imagine it, the singer states. There she was preparing for her first album release in eight years, deeply enamored with her current love, and at long last the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for a decade, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, actual name Jess Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The LP, her latest release, was meant as an transparent story, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d endured since she last made an album (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, suicide) with her usual frankness. The first single, No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Then follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in May and Cornish was talking to press about how she was thriving, while all the while dealing with her cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a studio in the capital. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and big frames. Picture biker chic meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the picture. “They used to call me that!” She grins. She is sharp-witted, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is hoping to make her first comedy performance next year. “I love making people laugh. During performances I often tease the crowd.”
Personal Battles and News
The artist was planning an appearance at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the Monday. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after a long hiatus and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your biopsy results have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but then I just marched with a hospital gown and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal recently and my right breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I felt, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
She is no stranger to illness. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with health crises. Frequently they align with career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her youth, already making her debut starring in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a collision and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
