You wouldn’t believe it, the singer remarks. At that moment gearing up for her first album release in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her current love, and at long last the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for a decade, on top of the world. Then in March she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The musician, actual name Jess Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an candid account, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d endured since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Then follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in May and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was living her best life, while at the same time living with the disease. A month later she went public, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She offers me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a photo studio in London. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and large glasses. Think rocker vibe 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 film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. Cornish is quick, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is hoping to make her initial standup show next year. “I like entertaining. When performing I often tease the audience.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was planning an appearance at the awards show when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d call on the Monday. By then the singer had assured herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after years away and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I assumed, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have indicated aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She found the surgery scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. During crises you go on a gurney, but now I just walked with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but yet Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal recently and my one side now resembles a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her boobs, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”
Previous Struggles
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s familiar with physical challenges. Frequently they align with professional successes, acting as a reminder, or blow, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career performing in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and young Jessica has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while enrolled in the academy. “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 collision and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
