You can’t imagine it, the singer states. At that moment gearing up for her comeback record in eight years, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for ten years, riding high. Then in spring she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, real name Jess Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The record, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an transparent story, addressing every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, losing a baby, failed relationships, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The first single, No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Later follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in May and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while all the while dealing with breast cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in the capital. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and oversized specs. Think motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, recalling the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Jessie is sharp-witted, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her initial standup show in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. On stage I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was getting ready for an slot at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the Monday. By then she had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have indicated aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. They walk you down. During crises you are wheeled, but this time I just walked 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 fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy recently and my right breast now appears as a odd shape.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “uneven. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
She is familiar with health problems. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, acting as a reminder, or shock, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her youth, already starting her career featuring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the female band the group while studying at the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Oi, I say, hold on, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
