You wouldn’t believe it, the singer remarks. There she was readying for her comeback record in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for ten years, riding high. Then in spring she was diagnosed with cancer in her breast.
The singer-songwriter, real name Jess Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The album, her latest release, was intended as an transparent story, tackling every moment of pain she’d endured since she last made an album (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, broken romances, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Later next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in May and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while all the while living with breast cancer. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.
We’re at a photo studio in London. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with ornate white designs, beige footwear and large glasses. Picture rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the movie. “They used to call me that!” She beams. Cornish is fast-thinking, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her standup debut soon. “I love making people laugh. On stage I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was getting ready for an appearance at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d call on the start of the week. By then the singer had convinced herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have come back as malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you roll down in a bed, but this time I just strolled down with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but however Thank fuck I found it early. I had the mastectomy recently and my one side now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with health crises. Many times they occur alongside career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her childhood, already beginning starring in the London theater in the production (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward several years, and teenage Jess has joined the female band the group while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a collision and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
