You can’t imagine it, the singer remarks. There she was preparing for her comeback record in eight years, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and finally the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in March she was diagnosed with cancer in her breast.
The artist, real name Jess Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an transparent story, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, broken romances, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The first single, No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Then follow-up track, Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and the artist was talking to press about how she was thriving, while still secretly coping with breast cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.
She offers me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every interview, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a photography studio in the capital. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and big frames. Picture motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. Cornish is sharp-witted, bold and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her initial standup show next year. “I enjoy humor. When performing I basically roast the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was planning an performance at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an test, and they said, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was serious she’d call on the start of the week. By then the singer had assured herself it was fine. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after eight years without an album and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I jump on the Zoom expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have shown aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. 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 viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. They walk you down. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but then I just walked with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my right breast now appears as a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”
The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her boobs, she observes, are now “uneven. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
Cornish is familiar with health problems. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s used to medical emergencies. They have often coincided with professional successes, acting as a reminder, or shock, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her childhood, already beginning performing in the London theater in a musical (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and teenage Jess has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while attending the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
