You wouldn’t believe it, the singer says. There she was gearing up for her first album release in eight years, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and finally the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for a decade, riding high. Suddenly in spring she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, actual name Jess Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The record, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an transparent story, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d endured since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, miscarriage, broken romances, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The lead track, No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Later follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly coping with breast cancer. A month later she shared the news, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.
We’re at a studio in the capital. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with ornate white designs, beige footwear and big frames. Think biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the film. “They used to call me that!” She grins. She is fast-thinking, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her standup debut in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. When performing I basically roast the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
She was getting ready for an performance at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d call on the Monday. By then the singer had assured herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had so much on.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after eight years without an album and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your biopsy results have indicated aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. During crises you are wheeled, but then I just marched with a gown on and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy recently and my affected breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “different sizes. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
The singer is no stranger to illness. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s used to medical emergencies. Frequently they align with peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut performing in the West End in a musical (she was selected at the age of 9). 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 rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and young Jessica has become part of the female band Soul Deep while attending the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
