You can’t imagine it, the singer says. There she was readying for her first album release in eight years, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for a decade, feeling invincible. Then in March she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The musician, real name Jess Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The album, her latest release, was supposed to be an open book, addressing every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, losing a baby, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, suicide) with characteristic openness. The initial release, No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Later next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and she was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while at the same time coping with breast cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a photo studio in London. She is wearing a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and oversized specs. Think rocker vibe meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the movie. “They used to call me that!” She beams. Cornish is fast-thinking, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her first comedy performance next year. “I love making people laugh. On stage I often tease the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was getting ready for an performance at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; 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 rise.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the start of the week. By then Cornish had assured herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had many commitments.
“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have indicated malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She considered the operation frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They walk you down. During crises you roll down in a bed, but then I just marched with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my affected breast now appears as a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
She is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s experienced in physical challenges. They have often coincided with peak moments, acting as a reminder, or shock, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside high points for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut featuring in the London theater in a musical (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has entered the trio Soul Deep while enrolled in the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a year.”
Hey, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
