You wouldn’t believe it, the singer remarks. There she was preparing for her new album launch in eight years, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and at long last the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for a decade, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was found to have breast cancer.
The artist, birth name Jess Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an open book, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, broken romances, emotional abuse, suicide) with typical candour. The first single, No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Later next release, Living My Best Life, came out in May and the artist was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly living with the disease. Subsequently she shared the news, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.
We meet at a studio in London. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with ornate white designs, beige footwear and big frames. Picture biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the picture. “They used to call me that!” She beams. She is fast-thinking, bold and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her first comedy performance next year. “I enjoy humor. During performances I often tease the audience.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was planning an slot at the awards show when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an test, and they said, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the Monday. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had so much on.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after years away and no new music. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have indicated malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She considered the operation terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. They lead you. During crises you roll down in a bed, but this time I just marched with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but however Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened recently and my one side now looks like a fruit under fabric.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”
The follow-up procedure is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her boobs, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”
A History of Health Challenges
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. They have often coincided with professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has often paired with achievements for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She reminisces to her childhood, already making her debut featuring in the West End in a musical (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and young Jessica has joined the female band the group while enrolled in the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”
Oi, I say, hold on, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees
