🔗 Share this article

You can’t imagine it, the singer states. At that moment preparing for her first album release in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and at long last the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for a decade, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.

The musician, real name Jess Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an open book, addressing every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last made an album (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, broken romances, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The lead track, No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Then follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and Cornish was talking to press about how she was living her best life, while at the same time living with her cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in early July she had a mastectomy.

She gives me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.

We’re at a photography studio in the capital. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with elaborate white patches, cream boots and large glasses. Imagine rocker vibe meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. Jessie is quick, bold and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her first comedy performance next year. “I enjoy humor. When performing I often tease the fans.”

Personal Battles and News

Cornish was preparing for an slot at the ceremony when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an test, and they said, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then the singer had assured herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to get cancer when she had so much on.

“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have indicated malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”

Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness

She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but this time I just walked with a gown on and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened recently and my one side now resembles a fruit under fabric.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”

The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she notes, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”

A History of Health Challenges

She is familiar with health problems. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s used to health crises. They have often coincided with professional successes, acting as a reminder, or blow, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”

She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut performing in the London theater in the production (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the trio the group while attending the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a year.”

Wow, I say, slow down, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees