You couldn’t make it up, the singer states. There she was preparing for her new album launch in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and finally the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for ten years, riding high. Suddenly in March she was found to have breast cancer.
The musician, real name Jess Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The album, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an candid account, tackling every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last made an album (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Then next release, Living My Best Life, came out in May and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time coping with her cancer. A month later she shared the news, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in the capital. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and big frames. Picture rocker vibe meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. Jessie is sharp-witted, bold and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her initial standup show next year. “I like entertaining. On stage I basically roast the crowd.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was preparing for an appearance at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an test, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d call on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to face illness when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I jump on the Zoom expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your biopsy results have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but then I just strolled down 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 fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened recently and my right breast now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”
The follow-up procedure is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her breasts, she observes, are now “uneven. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
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 medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her childhood, already beginning starring in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has joined the female band the group while studying at the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
