You couldn’t make it up, the singer states. At that moment readying for her comeback record in eight years, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and finally the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for ten years, riding high. Then in March she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, birth name Jess Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an transparent story, addressing every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, suicide) with typical candour. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Later follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and she was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly dealing with her cancer. Four weeks after she went public, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a photography studio in the capital. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with ornate white designs, beige footwear and large glasses. Think motorcycle style meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. Cornish is quick, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her initial standup show next year. “I enjoy humor. On stage I frequently joke about the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was preparing for an performance at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an test, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d call on the Monday. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to get cancer when she had many commitments.
“It was a fortnight prior 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 assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call expecting it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have shown malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. During crises you go on a gurney, but now I just strolled down with a medical attire and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but however Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my right breast now appears as a fruit under fabric.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I felt, 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 OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”
A History of Health Challenges
She is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s used to physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”
She reminisces to her youth, already beginning starring in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the female band Soul Deep while attending the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Oi, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
