You wouldn’t believe it, the singer remarks. At that moment preparing for her comeback record in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for ten years, on top of the world. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The musician, birth name Jess Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The record, her latest release, was intended as an candid account, tackling every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, miscarriage, failed relationships, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The first single, the song No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Later follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, came out in May and she was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly coping with her cancer. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in early July she had a mastectomy.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in London. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and large glasses. Imagine 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, recalling the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. Cornish is sharp-witted, irreverent and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her standup debut next year. “I love making people laugh. During performances I basically roast the fans.”
Personal Battles and News
She was preparing for an performance at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it looked at, had an test, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d call on the Monday. By then the singer had convinced herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to face illness when she had so much on.
“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after a long hiatus and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have come back as aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She considered the operation terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. They lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but this time I just marched with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, Cornish says, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but yet Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened recently and my right breast now looks like a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”
A History of Health Challenges
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in health crises. They have often coincided with professional successes, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has often paired with moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her youth, already starting her career featuring in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and young Jessica has become part of the female band Soul Deep while enrolled in the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a long period.”
Hey, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees
