You can’t imagine it, the singer remarks. There she was gearing up for her first album release in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her current love, and at long last the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for a decade, on top of the world. Then in spring she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, real name Jess Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an candid account, tackling every moment of pain she’d endured since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, broken romances, emotional abuse, suicide) with her usual frankness. The first single, the song No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Later second single, her song Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and Cornish was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time dealing with her cancer. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She offers me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in London. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and large glasses. Picture motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. Jessie is quick, bold and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her standup debut next year. “I like entertaining. When performing I often tease the audience.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was planning an appearance at the ceremony when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an scan, and they said, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d call on the Monday. By then she had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after years away and four years without a single. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call expecting it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have shown aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. During crises you roll down in a bed, but now I just marched with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. 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 you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal recently and my right breast now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she notes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s used to medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”
She takes me back to her youth, already beginning starring in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has joined the girl group the group while attending 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 car crash and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a year.”
Wow, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
