You can’t imagine it, the singer says. At that moment gearing up for her first album release in eight years, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and finally the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for ten years, riding high. Then in March she was found to have cancer in her breast.
The artist, birth name Jess Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The album, her latest release, was meant as an open book, tackling every moment of pain she’d endured since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, broken romances, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Later follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and Cornish was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly coping with breast cancer. A month later she went public, and in July she had a mastectomy.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in London. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and oversized specs. Think motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the film. “They used to call me that!” She grins. She is sharp-witted, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her initial standup show soon. “I like entertaining. On stage I often tease the crowd.”
Personal Battles and News
She was getting ready for an slot at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it looked at, had an test, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was serious she’d contact on the start of the week. By then she had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had so much on.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after a long hiatus and four years without a single. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your biopsy results have indicated malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure frightening and surreal. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. During crises you are wheeled, but now I just walked with a gown on and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal recently and my affected breast now looks like a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
She is no stranger to illness. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s used to physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with achievements for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her youth, already beginning performing in the stage in a musical (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the trio Soul Deep while studying at the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Wow, I say, slow down, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
