You couldn’t make it up, the singer remarks. At that moment readying for her new album launch in eight years, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and finally the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for a decade, feeling invincible. Then in March she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The musician, birth name Jess Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an open book, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d endured since she last made an album (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, broken romances, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Later next release, Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and Cornish was talking to press about how she was living her best life, while still secretly coping with breast cancer. A month later she went public, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a studio in the capital. She is wearing a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, cream boots and big frames. Picture biker chic meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Cornish is sharp-witted, bold and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is hoping to make her first comedy performance soon. “I enjoy humor. On stage I often tease the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was preparing for an slot at the awards show when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was serious she’d contact on the Monday. By then she had convinced herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had many commitments.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after a long hiatus and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ My initial 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 viewed the procedure frightening and surreal. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. During crises you are wheeled, but then I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened a few months back and my affected breast now looks like a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”
The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her breasts, she observes, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis 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 make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with achievements for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her childhood, already making her debut performing in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and young Jessica has become part of the trio Soul Deep while enrolled in the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees
