You can’t imagine it, the singer states. There she was gearing up for her comeback record in eight years, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in spring she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, birth name Jess Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The LP, her latest release, was meant as an candid account, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, suicide) with typical candour. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Then follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in May and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time coping with her cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in July she had a mastectomy.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.
We meet at a photo studio in London. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with ornate white designs, off-white boots and large glasses. Imagine biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, referencing the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. Cornish is quick, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her first comedy performance soon. “I enjoy humor. During performances I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was getting ready for an slot at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it looked at, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘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 serious she’d contact on the start of the week. By then the singer had assured herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after a long hiatus and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. During crises you are wheeled, but then I just walked with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “It’s terrible, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened recently and my affected breast now looks like a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her boobs, she observes, are now “different sizes. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”
Previous Struggles
Cornish is familiar with health problems. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. Frequently they align with peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her youth, already beginning featuring in the West End in the production (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the female band the group while studying at the academy. “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 throat was injured and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees
