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You can’t imagine it, the singer remarks. There she was readying for her first album release in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her current love, and at long last the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for ten years, riding high. Then in March she was told she had breast cancer.

The musician, actual name Jess Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The record, her latest release, was intended as an open book, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The lead track, No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Later next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in May and Cornish was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly dealing with her cancer. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she underwent breast removal surgery.

She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to call off performances 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 oversized specs. Think biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. Cornish is sharp-witted, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her first comedy performance next year. “I like entertaining. When performing I frequently joke about the fans.”

Health Struggles and Diagnosis

The artist was planning an appearance at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was serious she’d contact on the Monday. By then she had assured herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.

“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after eight years without an album and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”

I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself

She found the surgery scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. They walk you down. In urgent cases you go on a gurney, but this time I just strolled down with a medical attire and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal a few months back and my right breast now resembles a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”

The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”

Past Medical Issues

The singer is no stranger to illness. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with health crises. Frequently they align with peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with moments of success for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”

She recalls to her childhood, already starting her career starring in the London theater in a musical (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the trio Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”

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