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You wouldn’t believe it, the singer says. At that moment preparing for her first album release in eight years, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for ten years, on top of the world. Suddenly in spring she was found to have cancer in her breast.

The musician, birth name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The record, her latest release, was meant as an open book, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, miscarriage, broken romances, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The first single, the song No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Then follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in May and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time coping with the disease. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in the start of summer she underwent breast removal surgery.

She gives me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.

We’re at a studio in London. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and big frames. Picture biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the movie. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. Cornish is sharp-witted, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her first comedy performance next year. “I like entertaining. When performing I frequently joke about the fans.”

Personal Battles and News

She was preparing for an slot at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d call on the start of the week. By then she had convinced 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 an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I assumed, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I jump on the Zoom expecting it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your biopsy results have come back as aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt 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 fear going under. You’re escorted. During crises you are wheeled, but then I just strolled down with a medical attire and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but however Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened a few months back and my affected breast now looks like a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”

The follow-up procedure is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”

A History of Health Challenges

Cornish is no stranger to illness. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with health crises. Frequently they align with peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”

She takes me back to her childhood, already making her debut performing in the West End in a musical (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the female band the group while studying at the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”

Wow, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees