You can’t imagine it, the singer remarks. At that moment readying for her comeback record in eight years, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and finally the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for ten years, riding high. Then in spring she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The musician, actual name Jess Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The record, her latest release, was supposed to be an candid account, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d endured since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicide) with typical candour. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Later next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and she was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while coping with her cancer. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She offers me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
Our interview takes place at a studio in the capital. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with ornate white designs, beige footwear and big frames. Imagine rocker vibe meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, referencing the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. Jessie is sharp-witted, irreverent and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her first comedy performance soon. “I like entertaining. During performances I basically roast the crowd.”
Personal Battles and News
Cornish was getting ready for an performance at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an test, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d call on the Monday. By then Cornish had assured herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after years away and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have come back as aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She considered the operation frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They walk you down. During crises you go on a gurney, but then I just strolled down with a gown on and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but however Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal recently and my affected breast now appears as a odd shape.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she observes, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s experienced in health crises. They have often coincided with peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already beginning starring in the London theater in the production (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the medical problem WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while enrolled in the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a year.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
