You can’t imagine it, the singer says. There she was gearing up for her new album launch 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 ten years, on top of the world. Then in spring she was told she had breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, birth name Jess Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an candid account, addressing every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last recorded music (endometriosis, miscarriage, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The lead track, No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Later follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, was released in May and Cornish was talking to press about how she was thriving, while all the while dealing with breast cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a photo studio in London. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and oversized specs. Picture rocker vibe meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the picture. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. Cornish is sharp-witted, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her initial standup show soon. “I love making people laugh. When performing I basically roast the audience.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was getting ready for an slot at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the Monday. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after a long hiatus and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have come back as aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but then I just walked with a gown on and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my one side now appears as a odd shape.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”
Previous Struggles
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has often paired with moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her childhood, already beginning featuring in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has joined the trio Soul Deep while attending the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”
Wow, I say, hold on, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
