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You couldn’t make it up, the singer remarks. There she was gearing up for her first album release in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and finally the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was told she had cancer in her breast.

The musician, actual name Jess Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The album, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an candid account, tackling every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last made an album (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The first single, the song No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Then second single, her song Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while at the same time coping with breast cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in early July she had a mastectomy.

She gives me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.

We’re at a studio in the capital. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, blue jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and large glasses. Think rocker vibe meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the picture. “They used to call me that!” She beams. She is quick, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her standup debut soon. “I like entertaining. During performances I often tease the audience.”

Health Struggles and Diagnosis

The artist was planning an appearance at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an test, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the Monday. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.

“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after years away and four years without a single. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have come back as malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”

Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness

She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. They lead you. During crises you go on a gurney, but then I just marched with a gown on and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal four months ago and my right breast now appears as a odd shape.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”

The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. So rude! It’s funny because I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”

Past Medical Issues

The singer is no stranger to illness. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s used to physical challenges. They have often coincided with career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with achievements for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”

She takes me back to her youth, already starting her career performing in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and teenage Jess has entered the girl group the group while studying at the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”

Hey, I say, wait, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees