You wouldn’t believe it, the singer says. At that moment gearing up for her comeback record in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for a decade, on top of the world. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The musician, real name Jess Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an transparent story, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicide) with her usual frankness. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Later follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and she was talking to press about how she was living her best life, while all the while coping with her cancer. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.
We meet at a photo studio in the capital. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with ornate white designs, cream boots and big frames. Imagine rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. She is quick, irreverent and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her standup debut in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. During performances I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
She was preparing for an appearance at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an test, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d call on the start of the week. By then she had persuaded herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after a long hiatus and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your biopsy results have shown malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They walk you down. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but then I just walked with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “It’s terrible, but yet Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal recently and my one side now resembles a fruit under fabric.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”
A History of Health Challenges
The singer is no stranger to illness. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with physical challenges. Frequently they align with peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut performing in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and young Jessica has joined the female band Soul Deep while studying at the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a year.”
Wow, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees
