You couldn’t make it up, the singer states. At that moment gearing up for her first album release in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her current love, and finally the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for ten years, riding high. Then in March she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist, real name Jess Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an open book, addressing every moment of pain she’d endured since she last made an album (endometriosis, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, suicide) with her usual frankness. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Later next release, Living My Best Life, debuted in May and the artist was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time living with the disease. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
We meet at a photography studio in London. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and large glasses. Imagine motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, thinking of the film. “They used to call me that!” She grins. She is quick, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance soon. “I enjoy humor. During performances I frequently joke about the audience.”
Personal Battles and News
She was getting ready for an slot at the ceremony when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an scan, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d call on the start of the week. By then she had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after eight years without an album and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I jump on the Zoom expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have come back as aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. They lead you. During crises you roll down in a bed, but now I just strolled down with a medical attire and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but however Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal four months ago and my affected breast now looks like a odd shape.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she observes, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. So rude! Ironically I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”
Previous Struggles
She is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. Frequently they align with peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She reminisces to her youth, already starting her career featuring in the stage in the production (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward several years, and young Jessica has become part of the trio the group while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was about to put out music in recently I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”
Hey, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
