You wouldn’t believe it, the singer says. At that moment preparing for her comeback record in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and finally the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, real name Jess Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The record, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an open book, addressing every moment of pain she’d endured since she last recorded music (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, broken romances, gaslighting, suicide) with characteristic openness. The initial release, No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Then next release, Living My Best Life, debuted in May and the artist was talking to press about how she was thriving, while all the while coping with her cancer. Four weeks after she went public, and in July she had a mastectomy.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” look. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in London. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and large glasses. Imagine rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the picture. “They used to call me that!” She beams. Jessie is fast-thinking, bold and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her first comedy performance soon. “I like entertaining. When performing I frequently joke about the crowd.”
Personal Battles and News
The artist was getting ready for an slot at the ceremony when she discovered a mass. “I promptly visited to get it looked at, had an test, and they said, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the Monday. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after a long hiatus and four years without a single. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have come back as high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt 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 fear going under. They walk you down. During crises you are wheeled, but then I just marched with a medical attire and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “It’s terrible, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened recently and my affected breast now resembles a fruit under fabric.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she notes, are now “uneven. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”
Previous Struggles
She is familiar with health problems. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s used to health crises. They have often coincided with peak moments, acting as a reminder, or shock, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with high points for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”
She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career starring in the London theater in the production (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the girl group Soul Deep while enrolled in the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
