🔗 Share this article

You wouldn’t believe it, the singer remarks. There she was preparing for her comeback record in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and at long last the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for ten years, on top of the world. Then in spring she was found to have breast cancer.

The musician, real name Jess Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The album, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an open book, addressing every moment of pain she’d endured since she last recorded music (endometriosis, miscarriage, broken romances, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The initial release, No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Then follow-up track, Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly coping with her cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in July she had a mastectomy.

She offers me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.

Our interview takes place at a studio in the capital. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with elaborate white patches, cream boots and big frames. Picture rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, thinking of the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Jessie is sharp-witted, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I like entertaining. On stage I often tease the audience.”

Health Struggles and Diagnosis

She was preparing for an appearance at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then the singer had convinced herself it was fine. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.

“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after eight years without an album and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I assumed, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have indicated malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt 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 frightening and surreal. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but now I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but however Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal a few months back and my one side now looks like a odd shape.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”

The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”

A History of Health Challenges

The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside high points for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”

She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already beginning performing in the stage in a musical (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the girl group Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”

Oi, I say, slow down, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees