You wouldn’t believe it, the singer states. At that moment preparing for her comeback record in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and finally the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for ten years, riding high. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with cancer in her breast.
The artist, real name Jess Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The record, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an open book, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last recorded music (endometriosis, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, suicide) with her usual frankness. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Then second single, her song Living My Best Life, came out in May and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while at the same time coping with breast cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” look. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
We meet at a studio in London. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, cream boots and big frames. Think motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. Jessie is sharp-witted, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her initial standup show soon. “I like entertaining. When performing I often tease the crowd.”
Personal Battles and News
The artist was getting ready for an slot at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the Monday. By then she had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I assumed, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have indicated malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but this time I just strolled down with a medical attire and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my one side now looks like a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she observes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”
Past Medical Issues
The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside career highs, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”
She takes me back to her childhood, already starting her career performing in the London theater in the production (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward six years, and teenage Jess has entered the female band the group while enrolled in the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a long period.”
Oi, I say, hold on, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
