You couldn’t make it up, the singer states. At that moment preparing for her new album launch in eight years, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for a decade, on top of the world. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, real name Jess Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an open book, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, suicide) with typical candour. The initial release, No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Later second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and the artist was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while coping with her cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in July she had a mastectomy.
She gives me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in London. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with ornate white designs, beige footwear and large glasses. Imagine motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, referencing the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. Cornish is sharp-witted, irreverent and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her standup debut in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. When performing I often tease the audience.”
Personal Battles and News
She was preparing for an performance at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d call on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I assumed, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your biopsy results have shown aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She considered the operation frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but this time 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 notes, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy recently and my one side now looks like a odd shape.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her chest, she notes, are now “different sizes. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
She is no stranger to illness. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with health crises. Many times they occur alongside career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to highlight not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already beginning featuring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has become part of the female band Soul Deep while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a long period.”
Wow, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees
