You can’t imagine it, the singer remarks. There she was readying for her first album release in eight years, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and at long last the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in spring she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, birth name Jess Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The record, her latest release, was meant as an candid account, tackling every moment of pain she’d endured since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, miscarriage, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Then follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and she was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while all the while dealing with the disease. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in early July she had a mastectomy.
She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
Our interview takes place at a studio in the capital. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, cream boots and big frames. Imagine rocker vibe meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Jessie is sharp-witted, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I like entertaining. When performing I often tease the fans.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was planning an slot at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an scan, and they said, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d call on the Monday. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after years away and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She considered the operation terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you roll down in a bed, but this time I just marched with a gown on and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened recently and my one side now looks like a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”
A History of Health Challenges
She is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in health crises. They have often coincided with career highs, acting as a reminder, or shock, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already beginning starring in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the trio Soul Deep while attending the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a year.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
