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You wouldn’t believe it, the singer remarks. There she was readying for her new album launch in eight years, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and finally the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for a decade, on top of the world. Suddenly in spring she was told she had breast cancer.

The artist, actual name Jessica Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The record, her latest release, was meant as an candid account, tackling every moment of pain she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, miscarriage, failed relationships, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Later second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and the artist was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time coping with the disease. Subsequently she went public, and in early July she received surgical treatment.

She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.

Our interview takes place at a photography studio in London. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and large glasses. Think biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, referencing the film. “They used to call me that!” She beams. She is sharp-witted, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. On stage I often tease the fans.”

Medical Challenges and Discovery

Cornish was preparing for an slot at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had a busy schedule.

“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after years away and four years without a single. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have shown aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”

Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness

She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. In urgent cases you go on a gurney, but now I just strolled down with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened a few months back and my right breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”

The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”

Previous Struggles

She is no stranger to illness. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in physical challenges. They have often coincided with peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with high points for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”

She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already beginning starring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has joined the girl group the group while attending the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a collision and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”

Wow, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees