You wouldn’t believe it, the singer remarks. There she was preparing for her new album launch in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and at long last the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for a decade, riding high. Then in spring she was told she had breast cancer.
The artist, real name Jess Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The record, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an open book, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d endured since she last made an album (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Later follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and Cornish was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly living with her cancer. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a photography studio in London. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and oversized specs. Picture biker chic meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, recalling the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Jessie is sharp-witted, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her standup debut soon. “I like entertaining. When performing I often tease the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was getting ready for an performance at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it looked at, had an test, and they said, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, 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 tells it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after a long hiatus and four years without a single. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have shown aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure frightening and surreal. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. During crises you roll down in a bed, but then I just strolled down with a gown on and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but yet Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened a few months back and my one side now appears as a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
Cornish is familiar with health problems. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s used to physical challenges. They have often coincided with career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to highlight not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her childhood, already beginning performing in the stage in the production (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the trio the group while studying at the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a year.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
