You couldn’t make it up, the singer states. There she was readying for her comeback record in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her current love, and at long last the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for ten years, riding high. Then in spring she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The musician, actual name Jess Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The record, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an candid account, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last made an album (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, broken romances, psychological manipulation, suicide) with typical candour. The lead track, No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Then next release, her song Living My Best Life, came out in May and she was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly living with her cancer. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.
She offers me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in the capital. She is wearing a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and oversized specs. Picture motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the film. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. She is quick, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is hoping to make her first comedy performance soon. “I like entertaining. During performances I often tease the fans.”
Personal Battles and News
The artist was planning an performance at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d contact on the start of the week. By then the singer had assured herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after eight years without an album and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have come back as malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. During crises you go on a gurney, but now I just strolled down with a gown on and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my affected breast now looks like a odd shape.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
A History of Health Challenges
She is no stranger to illness. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in physical challenges. They have often coincided with peak moments, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has impacted my body.”
She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career performing in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward several years, and teenage Jess has entered the female band Soul Deep while studying at the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Hey, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees
