You can’t imagine it, the singer states. There she was preparing for her first album release in eight years, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and finally the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for ten years, riding high. Then in March she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, birth name Jess Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an open book, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last made an album (a gynecological condition, miscarriage, broken romances, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The first single, her single No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Then second single, her song Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and Cornish was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while dealing with her cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in July she received surgical treatment.
She offers me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a studio in the capital. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and big frames. Think rocker vibe meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. She is fast-thinking, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance soon. “I enjoy humor. On stage I basically roast the crowd.”
Personal Battles and News
She was getting ready for an performance at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d call on the Monday. By then she had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after years away and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have come back as malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. During crises you are wheeled, but then I just walked with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened four months ago and my affected breast now looks like a odd shape.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she observes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. So rude! Ironically I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
She is familiar with health problems. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with health crises. Many times they occur alongside career highs, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has impacted my body.”
She takes me back to her childhood, already starting her career starring in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the trio the group while studying at the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Wow, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
