You wouldn’t believe it, the singer states. At that moment readying for her comeback record in eight years, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for a decade, feeling invincible. Suddenly in March she was found to have cancer in her breast.
The singer-songwriter, birth name Jess Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an open book, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, broken romances, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Later second single, Living My Best Life, was released in May and the artist was talking to press about how she was living her best life, while still secretly living with her cancer. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every interview, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a studio in London. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with ornate white designs, beige footwear and big frames. Picture rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the film. “They used to call me that!” She beams. She is sharp-witted, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her initial standup show soon. “I love making people laugh. On stage I basically roast the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was getting ready for an slot at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then Cornish had assured herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after eight years without an album and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have come back as high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful 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 considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. During crises you go on a gurney, but then I just strolled down with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my one side now appears as a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
She is no stranger to illness. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s used to medical emergencies. Frequently they align with career highs, acting as a reminder, or shock, to highlight not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her childhood, already beginning performing in the London theater in a musical (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward six years, and teenage Jess has joined the trio Soul Deep while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was about to put out music in recently I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
