You can’t imagine it, the singer remarks. At that moment preparing for her comeback record in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her current love, and at long last the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for a decade, riding high. Then in March she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The musician, real name Jess Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an candid account, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d endured since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Later second single, Living My Best Life, was released in May and she was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly dealing with breast cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “Seriously?” look. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a photography studio in London. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and oversized specs. Imagine motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Jessie is quick, irreverent and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I like entertaining. When performing I frequently joke about the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was getting ready for an slot at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the Monday. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And she contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you roll down in a bed, but now I just walked with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened a few months back and my affected breast now appears as a odd shape.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be ideal. Illness changed that.”
Previous Struggles
She is no stranger to illness. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s used to physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with achievements for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her childhood, already making her debut featuring in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the trio the group while enrolled in the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a year.”
Oi, I say, hold on, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
