You can’t imagine it, the singer states. There she was gearing up for her first album release in eight years, blissfully happy with her current love, and finally the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for ten years, riding high. Then in March she was found to have breast cancer.
The musician, real name Jess Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an transparent story, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, miscarriage, failed relationships, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The lead track, No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Then second single, her song Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and she was giving interviews about how she was living her best life, while all the while living with the disease. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” look. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.
We meet at a studio in London. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with ornate white designs, beige footwear and oversized specs. Think rocker vibe meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the film. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. Jessie is quick, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her initial standup show next year. “I love making people laugh. When performing I frequently joke about the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
Cornish was getting ready for an slot at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the Monday. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album 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.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have shown malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but then I just strolled down with a gown on and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened a few months back and my one side now looks like a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she notes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”
Previous Struggles
She is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s used to physical challenges. Frequently they align with career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her youth, already beginning featuring in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward several years, and teenage Jess has entered the trio Soul Deep while studying at the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
