You couldn’t make it up, the singer states. At that moment readying for her first album release in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her current love, and at long last the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for ten years, on top of the world. Suddenly in March she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, actual name Jess Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The record, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an open book, addressing every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, miscarriage, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The first single, the song No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Then next release, Living My Best Life, was released in May and the artist was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time coping with breast cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “Seriously?” look. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in the capital. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and large glasses. Imagine biker chic meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. Cornish is sharp-witted, bold and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance next year. “I like entertaining. During performances I frequently joke about the audience.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was preparing for an performance at the ceremony when she discovered a mass. “I promptly visited to get it looked at, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the Monday. By then the singer had assured herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to face illness when she had so much on.
“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after years away and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I assumed, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have shown aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. During crises you roll down in a bed, but this time I just walked with a gown on and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal a few months back and my affected breast now resembles 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. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
She is familiar with health problems. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s used to medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, acting as a reminder, or blow, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”
She takes me back to her childhood, already starting her career starring in the London theater in the production (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has joined the trio Soul Deep while enrolled in the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a year.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
