You wouldn’t believe it, the singer remarks. At that moment preparing for her comeback record in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her current love, and finally the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The artist, birth name Jess Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The LP, her latest release, was intended as an transparent story, tackling every moment of pain she’d endured since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, losing a baby, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Then second single, Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and she was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time living with her cancer. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” look. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every interview, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.
Our interview takes place at a studio in London. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and big frames. Picture biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, recalling the film. “They used to call me that!” She grins. Jessie is quick, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show in the coming year. “I like entertaining. When performing I often tease the audience.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was preparing for an appearance at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after eight years without an album and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I assumed, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have come back as malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure frightening and surreal. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but this time I just walked with a gown on and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my right breast now looks like a odd shape.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she notes, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”
Past Medical Issues
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside career highs, acting as a reminder, or shock, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied moments of success for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already beginning featuring in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and young Jessica has joined the trio Soul Deep while studying at the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a year.”
Oi, I say, wait, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
