You can’t imagine it, the singer remarks. There she was gearing up for her first album release in eight years, blissfully happy with her current love, and at long last the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for a decade, on top of the world. Then in March she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, real name Jess Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an open book, addressing every moment of pain she’d endured since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, losing a baby, broken romances, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Later follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and Cornish was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time coping with the disease. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “Seriously?” look. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a studio in London. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, cream boots and large glasses. Picture rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. She is sharp-witted, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her standup debut next year. “I love making people laugh. During performances I often tease the fans.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was preparing for an appearance at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I promptly visited to get it looked at, had an test, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had many commitments.
“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after years away and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I assumed, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have indicated aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful 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 terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. They walk you down. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but this time I just marched with a medical attire and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but however Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal recently and my affected breast now resembles a odd shape.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “uneven. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
She is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s used to medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”
She takes me back to her youth, already beginning featuring in the London theater in the production (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the girl group the group while studying at the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees
