You couldn’t make it up, the singer states. There she was readying for her first album release in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for a decade, riding high. Then in spring she was diagnosed with cancer in her breast.
The singer-songwriter, actual name Jess Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The record, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an transparent story, tackling every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last recorded music (endometriosis, losing a baby, broken romances, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Then follow-up track, Living My Best Life, came out in May and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while at the same time living with her cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “Seriously?” look. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every interview, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
We’re at a studio in London. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and oversized specs. Picture rocker vibe meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. Cornish is sharp-witted, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. During performances I often tease the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was getting ready for an performance at the awards show when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d call on the start of the week. By then she had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had so much on.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after a long hiatus and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. During crises you roll down in a bed, but this time I just marched with a hospital gown and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Thank fuck I found it early. I had the mastectomy recently and my affected breast now looks like a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with health crises. Many times they occur alongside career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with achievements for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her youth, already beginning starring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the trio Soul Deep while enrolled in the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a long period.”
Wow, I say, hold on, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
