You wouldn’t believe it, the singer remarks. There she was preparing for her new album launch in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and finally the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for ten years, riding high. Suddenly in March she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The musician, real name Jess Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The LP, her latest release, was supposed to be an transparent story, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d endured since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, suicide) with her usual frankness. The first single, her single No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Then follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and the artist was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while coping with the disease. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every interview, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
We’re at a photo studio in London. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with ornate white designs, cream boots and large glasses. Imagine rocker vibe meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. She is sharp-witted, bold and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her standup debut in the coming year. “I like entertaining. When performing I often tease the audience.”
Personal Battles and News
The artist was planning an performance at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an test, and they said, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then she had convinced herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after a long hiatus and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have come back as aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I 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 found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They lead you. During crises you go on a gurney, but then I just strolled down with a gown on and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened recently and my affected breast now appears as a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she observes, are now “different sizes. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
She is no stranger to illness. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s used to health crises. They have often coincided with peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside high points for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”
She reminisces to her childhood, already making her debut performing in the London theater in a musical (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while studying at the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, hold on, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
