You can’t imagine it, the singer states. There she was gearing up for her comeback record in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her current love, and at long last the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for a decade, riding high. Suddenly in spring she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, birth name Jess Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The LP, her latest release, was intended as an transparent story, tackling every moment of pain she’d endured since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Then next release, Living My Best Life, came out in May and the artist was talking to press about how she was living her best life, while all the while living with the disease. A month later she shared the news, and in July she had a mastectomy.
She offers me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in London. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and big frames. Think motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the picture. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. She is fast-thinking, bold and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her standup debut soon. “I like entertaining. When performing I basically roast the crowd.”
Personal Battles and News
Cornish was planning an appearance at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the Monday. By then she had assured herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after years away and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I jump on the Zoom expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have shown malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt 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 considered the operation terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. In urgent cases you go on a gurney, but this time I just strolled down with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened recently and my one side now looks like a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
The singer is no stranger to illness. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s used to health crises. They have often coincided with professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut featuring in the London theater in a musical (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward six years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the girl group the group while enrolled in the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”
Wow, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
