You couldn’t make it up, the singer states. At that moment gearing up for her comeback record in eight years, deeply enamored with her current love, and at long last the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for a decade, feeling invincible. Suddenly in March she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, actual name Jess Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The LP, her latest release, was supposed to be an candid account, addressing every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Later next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and she was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while at the same time dealing with the disease. Subsequently she shared the news, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a photo studio in the capital. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with elaborate white patches, cream boots and large glasses. Picture rocker vibe meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. Cornish is fast-thinking, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. When performing I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Personal Battles and News
Cornish was getting ready for an appearance at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an test, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d call on the Monday. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was fine. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.
“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after a long hiatus and four years without a single. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have come back as malignant 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.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. During crises you roll down in a bed, but then I just walked with a gown on and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. I had the mastectomy recently and my affected breast now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she observes, are now “different sizes. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
She is no stranger to illness. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in physical challenges. They have often coincided with career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut starring in the stage in the production (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition WPW, 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 fast-forwards half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has joined the girl group Soul Deep while attending the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
