You couldn’t make it up, the singer says. There she was readying for her comeback record in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for a decade, on top of the world. Then in spring she was told she had breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, real name Jess Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an transparent story, addressing every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last made an album (endometriosis, losing a baby, failed relationships, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The lead track, No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Then next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in May and she was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while dealing with breast cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
We’re at a photo studio in the capital. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with ornate white designs, off-white boots and oversized specs. Picture motorcycle style meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, recalling the movie. “They used to call me that!” She beams. Cornish is sharp-witted, bold and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her standup debut next year. “I like entertaining. When performing I often tease the audience.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
Cornish was preparing for an slot at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the Monday. By then the singer had convinced herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after eight years without an album and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have indicated aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. They lead you. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but this time I just walked with a gown on and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal four months ago and my one side now resembles a odd shape.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
A History of Health Challenges
Cornish is no stranger to illness. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. Frequently they align with career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already beginning featuring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the girl group the group while enrolled in the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”
Hey, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
