You can’t imagine it, the singer says. There she was gearing up for her first album release in eight years, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and at long last the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for a decade, riding high. Then in spring she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, birth name Jess Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The record, her latest release, was meant as an transparent story, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, losing a baby, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Then follow-up track, 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 shared the news, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She offers me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a photography studio in London. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and large glasses. Imagine rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the film. “They used to call me that!” She grins. Cornish is quick, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her initial standup show next year. “I love making people laugh. During performances I basically roast the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was planning an slot at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an test, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘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 concerning she’d call on the start of the week. By then she had convinced herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after years away and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She found the surgery scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. They lead you. During crises you are wheeled, but then I just marched with a hospital gown and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “It’s terrible, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened recently and my affected breast now looks like a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she observes, are now “different sizes. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”
A History of Health Challenges
The singer is familiar with health problems. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s used to medical emergencies. Frequently they align with peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her youth, already making her debut starring in the West End in the production (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward several years, and teenage Jess has become part of the trio Soul Deep while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a year.”
Wow, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
