You wouldn’t believe it, the singer states. There she was gearing up for her new album launch in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and at long last the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for a decade, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was found to have breast cancer.
The musician, actual name Jess Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an open book, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, broken romances, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The first single, her single No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Later second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in May and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while at the same time dealing with breast cancer. A month later she went public, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She offers me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.
We’re at a photography studio in the capital. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and oversized specs. Imagine motorcycle style meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, recalling the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. Jessie is sharp-witted, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her initial standup show next year. “I love making people laugh. During performances I often tease the fans.”
Personal Battles and News
The artist was getting ready for an performance at the awards show when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an scan, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘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 bad news she’d reach out on the Monday. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was fine. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.
“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after years away and no new music. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have indicated malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you roll down in a bed, but this time I just strolled down with a medical attire and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my right breast now appears as a fruit under fabric.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she notes, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
A History of Health Challenges
The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside career highs, acting as a reminder, or shock, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has impacted my body.”
She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already beginning performing in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in recently I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a year.”
Hey, I say, hold on, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
