You couldn’t make it up, the singer states. At that moment gearing up for her new album launch in eight years, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and finally the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for a decade, on top of the world. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The artist, real name Jess Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an candid account, dealing with every moment of pain she’d endured since she last made an album (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The initial release, No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Then next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in May and the artist was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly coping with breast cancer. A month later she went public, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She shoots me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.
We meet at a photo studio in the capital. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with ornate white designs, cream boots and large glasses. Imagine biker chic meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, referencing the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Jessie is quick, irreverent and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her standup debut in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. On stage I often tease the fans.”
Personal Battles and News
Cornish was planning an performance at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the Monday. By then Cornish 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 years away and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call expecting it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have shown aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. 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 viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but now I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy a few months back 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 both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she notes, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”
A History of Health Challenges
She is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s used to health crises. Frequently they align with career highs, acting as a reminder, or shock, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside high points for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already beginning starring in the London theater in the production (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and teenage Jess has become part of the trio Soul Deep while studying at the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Hey, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees
