You couldn’t make it up, the singer states. There she was preparing for her first album release in eight years, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in spring she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, actual name Jess Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an transparent story, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last recorded music (endometriosis, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The first single, No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Later follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, was released in May and she was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while living with her cancer. A month later she shared the news, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in the capital. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and oversized specs. Picture motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the film. “They used to call me that!” She beams. She is quick, bold and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is hoping to make her initial standup show in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. During performances I often tease the audience.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
Cornish was planning an slot at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the Monday. By then Cornish had assured herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to get cancer when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after years away and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They lead you. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but now I just marched with a medical attire and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal four months ago and my right breast now appears as a odd shape.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her chest, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
Previous Struggles
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s used to physical challenges. They have often coincided with peak moments, acting as a reminder, or blow, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied moments of success for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already beginning featuring in the stage in a musical (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the female band Soul Deep while studying at the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”
Wow, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees
