You wouldn’t believe it, the singer remarks. There she was gearing up for her new album launch in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for ten years, riding high. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The musician, real name Jess Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The record, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an candid account, addressing every moment of pain she’d endured since she last made an album (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, broken romances, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The initial release, No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Later follow-up track, Living My Best Life, was released in May and she was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while still secretly coping with the disease. Subsequently she went public, and in the start of summer she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every interview, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a studio in London. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and big frames. Picture biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, recalling the picture. “They used to call me that!” She beams. Cornish is quick, bold and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her standup debut soon. “I like entertaining. When performing I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was preparing for an appearance at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after years away and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have shown aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She found the surgery scary and bizarre. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but this time I just walked with a gown on and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “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. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! Amusingly 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
She is no stranger to illness. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s familiar with physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has often paired with achievements for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her childhood, already starting her career featuring in the London theater in a musical (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the girl group the group while enrolled in the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a year.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
