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You wouldn’t believe it, the singer states. There she was gearing up for her new album launch in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her current love, and at long last the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for a decade, riding high. Then in spring she was told she had breast cancer.

The artist, actual name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an candid account, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, miscarriage, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The first single, No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Later second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in May and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while at the same time living with the disease. Four weeks after she went public, and in the start of summer she underwent breast removal surgery.

She gives me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.

Our interview takes place at a studio in the capital. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with ornate white designs, off-white boots and large glasses. Imagine biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. Cornish is quick, irreverent and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is hoping to make her first comedy performance soon. “I like entertaining. During performances I basically roast the fans.”

Health Struggles and Diagnosis

She was planning an slot at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d contact on the Monday. By then Cornish had assured herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had a busy schedule.

“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after years away and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have come back as aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”

Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am

She found the surgery scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but then I just walked with a hospital gown and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal recently and my one side now appears as a odd shape.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”

The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”

Previous Struggles

The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s used to physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside career highs, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”

She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already beginning performing in the West End in a musical (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward six years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the female band Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”

Hey, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees