You couldn’t make it up, the singer says. At that moment preparing 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 dealing with conception issues for a decade, riding high. Suddenly in March she was found to have breast cancer.
The musician, birth name Jess Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The album, her latest release, was meant as an transparent story, addressing every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, suicide) with her usual frankness. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Later follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and the artist was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly dealing with her cancer. Four weeks after she went public, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.
We’re at a photography studio in London. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with ornate white designs, beige footwear and oversized specs. Think rocker vibe meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Jessie is quick, bold and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her first comedy performance soon. “I enjoy humor. On stage I often tease the fans.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
Cornish was getting ready for an appearance at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an test, and they said, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was serious she’d contact on the Monday. By then Cornish had assured herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after years away and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ 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 says, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have indicated malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. 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 found the surgery scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. They walk you down. During crises you are wheeled, but now I just marched with a gown on and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my right breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”
The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her boobs, she observes, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
Previous Struggles
The singer is no stranger to illness. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside career highs, acting as a reminder, or blow, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already beginning performing in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the girl group the group while attending 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 couldn’t sing for a long period.”
Wow, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
