You couldn’t make it up, the singer says. At that moment gearing up for her first album release in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for a decade, feeling invincible. Suddenly in spring she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, birth name Jess Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The record, her latest release, was meant as an transparent story, addressing every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last recorded music (endometriosis, miscarriage, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The initial release, No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Later second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in May and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly living with breast cancer. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in early July she had a mastectomy.
She offers me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
We meet at a photo studio in London. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with ornate white designs, off-white boots and oversized specs. Picture motorcycle style meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. Cornish is sharp-witted, irreverent and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her first comedy performance soon. “I enjoy humor. On stage I basically roast the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was getting ready for an slot at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d call on the Monday. By then she had assured herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to get cancer when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after a long hiatus and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I jump on the Zoom expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. During crises you are wheeled, but then I just marched with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened four months ago and my affected breast now resembles a fruit under fabric.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her breasts, she observes, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
She is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has often paired with achievements for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”
She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut featuring in the stage in the production (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and teenage Jess has become part of the girl group the group while enrolled in the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a year.”
Oi, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees
