You can’t imagine it, the singer remarks. There she was readying for her first album release in eight years, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and finally the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for a decade, riding high. Then in spring she was diagnosed with cancer in her breast.
The singer-songwriter, real name Jess Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an transparent story, dealing with every moment of pain she’d endured since she last made an album (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Later second single, Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and she was talking to press about how she was thriving, while at the same time living with the disease. Four weeks after she went public, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
We’re at a studio in the capital. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and large glasses. Picture rocker vibe meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Jessie is sharp-witted, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her first comedy performance soon. “I enjoy humor. When performing I basically roast the crowd.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was planning an slot at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an test, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d call on the start of the week. By then she had convinced herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have come back as high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but then I just marched with a gown on and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my one side now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”
The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her chest, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! It’s funny because I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Past Medical Issues
She is familiar with health problems. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s experienced in health crises. Many times they occur alongside career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has often paired with achievements for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”
She recalls to her youth, already starting her career featuring in the stage in the production (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while studying at the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a long period.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees
