You can’t imagine it, the singer says. At that moment readying for her comeback record in eight years, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and at long last the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for a decade, riding high. Suddenly in spring she was found to have cancer in her breast.
The musician, birth name Jess Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The record, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an open book, addressing every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, losing a baby, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Then second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and she was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while all the while living with breast cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a studio in London. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and oversized specs. Picture motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, referencing the film. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. She is sharp-witted, irreverent 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. During performances I basically roast the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was preparing for an slot at the ceremony when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was serious she’d contact on the Monday. By then the singer had convinced herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.
“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after a long hiatus and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have come back as aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. During crises you go on a gurney, but then I just marched with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal a few months back and my affected breast now looks like a fruit under fabric.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she notes, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be ideal. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s used to medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside career highs, acting as a reminder, or blow, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already beginning starring in the West End in the production (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the girl group the group while studying at the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
