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You couldn’t make it up, the singer remarks. There she was readying for her comeback record in eight years, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for a decade, feeling invincible. Suddenly in spring she was found to have cancer in her breast.

The musician, real name Jessica Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The album, her latest release, was meant as an transparent story, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d endured since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Then next release, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and she was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while all the while living with her cancer. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in July she received surgical treatment.

She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.

We meet at a studio in London. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and large glasses. Think biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, referencing the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. Jessie is quick, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her initial standup show next year. “I enjoy humor. When performing I often tease the fans.”

Personal Battles and News

The artist was preparing for an slot at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d call on the Monday. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to face illness when she had so much on.

“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she contacted me 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 says, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have come back as aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”

I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself

She considered the operation terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but this time I just strolled down with a gown on and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, Cornish says, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “It’s terrible, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal four months ago and my affected breast now looks like a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”

The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”

Previous Struggles

Cornish is no stranger to illness. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s experienced in physical challenges. They have often coincided with career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside high points for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”

She recalls to her childhood, already beginning starring in the London theater in the production (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the female band Soul Deep while attending the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was about to put out music in recently I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”

Oi, I say, hold on, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees