You can’t imagine it, the singer remarks. There she was readying for her first album release in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and at long last the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for ten years, on top of the world. Suddenly in spring she was found to have breast cancer.
The musician, birth name Jessica Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an transparent story, tackling every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last made an album (endometriosis, losing a baby, failed relationships, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The first single, the song No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Later follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in May and she was giving interviews about how she was living her best life, while at the same time coping with her cancer. Subsequently she shared the news, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in London. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, cream boots and big frames. Picture biker chic meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the movie. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. Cornish is sharp-witted, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her standup debut next year. “I like entertaining. On stage I basically roast the audience.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
Cornish was planning an appearance at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then she had convinced herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have shown malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She considered the operation frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but this time I just walked with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “It’s terrible, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my affected breast now appears as a odd shape.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she notes, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be ideal. Illness changed that.”
Past Medical Issues
The singer is familiar with health problems. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s used to physical challenges. Frequently they align with peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She takes me back to her childhood, already beginning featuring in the West End in a musical (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the heart condition WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while studying at the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”
Oi, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
