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 recent boyfriend, and finally the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, real name Jess Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an transparent story, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, miscarriage, broken romances, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The first single, her single No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Later follow-up track, Living My Best Life, was released in May and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time living with breast cancer. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” she has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
We meet at a photography studio in London. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and oversized specs. Picture biker chic meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, recalling the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. She is quick, irreverent and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. When performing I often tease the fans.”
Personal Battles and News
She was preparing for an slot at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an scan, and they said, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d call on the start of the week. By then she had convinced herself it was nothing. 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 a long hiatus and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have come back as malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but then I just walked with a gown on and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my one side now looks like a odd shape.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”
The follow-up procedure is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! 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.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is familiar with health problems. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in physical challenges. Frequently they align with peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career starring in the West End in the production (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and young Jessica has entered the female band the group while studying at the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Oi, I say, hold on, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
