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You can’t imagine it, the singer remarks. There she was readying for her comeback record in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for a decade, feeling invincible. Then in March she was found to have breast cancer.

The artist, actual name Jess Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The LP, her latest release, was meant as an transparent story, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Later next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and she was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while all the while dealing with her cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in early July she received surgical treatment.

She gives me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every interview, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.

We meet at a photo studio in the capital. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with ornate white designs, beige footwear and large glasses. Picture biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. Cornish is fast-thinking, bold and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I like entertaining. On stage I frequently joke about the fans.”

Medical Challenges and Discovery

She was getting ready for an performance at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an test, and they said, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the Monday. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was fine. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.

“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after years away and no new music. 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 log in thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have come back as malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”

Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness

She considered the operation terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you roll down in a bed, but this time I just walked with a gown on and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy recently and my affected breast now looks like a odd shape.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”

The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her boobs, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”

Previous Struggles

She is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s used to physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has often paired with moments of success for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”

She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already beginning featuring in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the medical problem WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and young Jessica has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while attending the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”

Oi, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees