You wouldn’t believe it, the singer remarks. There she was readying for her comeback record in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and finally the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for a decade, feeling invincible. Then in March she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, actual name Jess Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The album, her latest release, was supposed to be an transparent story, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The first single, No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Later follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and Cornish was speaking publicly 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 “What the fuck?” expression. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
We’re at a photo studio in the capital. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and oversized specs. Think biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. Cornish is quick, bold and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance next year. “I love making people laugh. On stage I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was preparing for an performance at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an test, and they said, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was serious she’d contact on the Monday. By then the singer had assured herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.
“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after a long hiatus and no new music. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have come back as aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She considered the operation terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. They lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but then I just marched 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 blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my one side now appears as a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her breasts, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Past Medical Issues
The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s used to health crises. They have often coincided with professional successes, acting as a reminder, or shock, to highlight not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has often paired with moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career performing in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward six years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the girl group Soul Deep while studying at the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”
Oi, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
