You couldn’t make it up, the singer says. At that moment readying for her new album launch in eight years, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and finally the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for ten years, riding high. Suddenly in spring she was told she had cancer in her breast.
The artist, real name Jess Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an transparent story, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, broken romances, gaslighting, suicide) with typical candour. The first single, her single No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Then next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in May and the artist was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while still secretly living with the disease. A month later she went public, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a studio in London. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and oversized specs. Picture motorcycle style meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, recalling the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Cornish is sharp-witted, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her initial standup show soon. “I love making people laugh. When performing I basically roast the audience.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was planning an performance at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an test, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d call on the Monday. By then Cornish had assured herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have shown malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you roll down in a bed, but then I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but yet Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my affected breast now resembles a odd shape.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her breasts, she notes, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”
A History of Health Challenges
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s used to medical emergencies. Frequently they align with career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to highlight not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with moments of success for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut featuring in the stage in the production (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward six years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the trio Soul Deep while studying at the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a collision and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a year.”
Oi, I say, wait, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
