You can’t imagine it, the singer states. There she was readying for her new album launch in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her current love, and at long last the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in March she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, real name Jess Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The album, her latest release, was supposed to be an candid account, tackling every moment of pain she’d endured since she last made an album (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, broken romances, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The lead track, No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Later second single, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in May and the artist was talking to press about how she was thriving, while at the same time coping with breast cancer. Four weeks after she went public, and in the start of summer she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a photography studio in the capital. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and big frames. Picture biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. She is quick, bold and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her standup debut in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. When performing I frequently joke about the audience.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was preparing for an performance at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d contact on the start of the week. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to get cancer when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after years away and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call expecting it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. During crises you are wheeled, but now I just strolled down with a gown on and my rear exposed. 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. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened recently and my one side now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
Previous Struggles
The singer is familiar with health problems. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s familiar with health crises. Frequently they align with career highs, acting as a reminder, or blow, to highlight not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already beginning performing in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and teenage Jess has entered the female band Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a year.”
Oi, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
