You can’t imagine it, the singer remarks. At that moment gearing up for her first album release in eight years, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and finally the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for a decade, riding high. Then in spring she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The musician, birth name Jess Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The album, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an open book, addressing every moment of pain she’d endured since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, losing a baby, failed relationships, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Later follow-up track, Living My Best Life, debuted in May and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while all the while living with the disease. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
We’re at a studio in London. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with ornate white designs, cream boots and oversized specs. Imagine motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. She is sharp-witted, bold and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is hoping to make her first comedy performance soon. “I love making people laugh. On stage I basically roast the audience.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was planning an slot at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an scan, and they said, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d call on the Monday. By then she had assured herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after eight years without an album and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have shown malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. They lead you. During crises you go on a gurney, but then I just marched with a gown on and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal a few months back and my one side now looks like a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
She is familiar with health problems. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s familiar with physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with high points for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”
She reminisces to her youth, already making her debut featuring in the London theater in the production (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and teenage Jess has joined the female band the group while attending the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a year.”
Wow, I say, wait, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
