You couldn’t make it up, the singer remarks. At that moment readying for her comeback record in eight years, blissfully happy with her current love, and at long last the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in March she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The musician, actual name Jess Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an open book, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last made an album (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, broken romances, psychological manipulation, suicide) with typical candour. The initial release, No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Then follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in May and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while all the while coping with breast cancer. Subsequently she shared the news, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” look. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in the capital. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with ornate white designs, beige footwear and large glasses. Think motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, referencing the picture. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. Jessie is sharp-witted, bold and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her standup debut next year. “I like entertaining. When performing I often tease the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was preparing for an appearance at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the Monday. By then she had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had many commitments.
“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 was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She considered the operation terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. During crises you are wheeled, but now I just walked with a hospital gown and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “It’s terrible, but however Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my affected breast now resembles a odd shape.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she observes, are now “different sizes. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s used to physical challenges. Frequently they align with career highs, acting as a reminder, or shock, to remind her not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She takes me back to her childhood, already starting her career performing in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the female band Soul Deep while enrolled in the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
