You couldn’t make it up, the singer remarks. There she was preparing for her first album release in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for ten years, riding high. Then in spring she was found to have cancer in her breast.
The artist, real name Jess Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an candid account, tackling every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, miscarriage, broken romances, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The first single, her single No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Later follow-up track, Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time dealing with the disease. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in early July she received surgical treatment.
She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a photo studio in the capital. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with ornate white designs, beige footwear and large glasses. Imagine motorcycle style meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, recalling the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Cornish is fast-thinking, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show next year. “I enjoy humor. During performances I frequently joke about the fans.”
Personal Battles and News
The artist was getting ready for an slot at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an test, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the Monday. By then she had persuaded herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had many commitments.
“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness
She viewed the procedure frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They walk you down. During crises you are wheeled, but now I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “It’s terrible, but however Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened recently and my right breast now appears as a odd shape.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”
The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her chest, she observes, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I felt, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”
A History of Health Challenges
Cornish is familiar with health problems. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with physical challenges. Frequently they align with professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has impacted my body.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already beginning starring in the West End in a musical (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has joined the female band the group while studying at the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a long period.”
Oi, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
