You wouldn’t believe it, the singer states. At that moment gearing up for her new album launch in eight years, ecstatically in love with her current love, and at long last the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for a decade, on top of the world. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, real name Jess Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an candid account, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d endured since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, failed relationships, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The first single, the song No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Later second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in May and the artist was giving interviews about how she was living her best life, while still secretly dealing with the disease. A month later she shared the news, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in London. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with ornate white designs, beige footwear and oversized specs. Think biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the movie. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. Jessie is fast-thinking, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her standup debut in the coming year. “I like entertaining. On stage I frequently joke about the fans.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was planning an slot at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an scan, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d contact on the Monday. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have indicated aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. They lead you. During crises you are wheeled, but now I just strolled down with a gown on and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my one side now looks like a fruit under fabric.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I reflected, why make it worse, 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. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
She is familiar with health problems. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s familiar with physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career starring in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the female band Soul Deep while enrolled in the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a year.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
