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You wouldn’t believe it, the singer remarks. There she was readying for her first album release in eight years, ecstatically in love with her current love, and finally the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.

The singer-songwriter, actual name Jess Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an open book, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last made an album (endometriosis, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, suicide) with typical candour. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Then next release, her song Living My Best Life, came out in May and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while still secretly dealing with the disease. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.

She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every interview, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.

We’re at a studio in London. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with ornate white designs, beige footwear and large glasses. Picture biker chic meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, thinking of the movie. “They used to call me that!” She beams. Jessie is quick, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show soon. “I enjoy humor. During performances I frequently joke about the audience.”

Medical Challenges and Discovery

Cornish was getting ready for an performance at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the start of the week. By then the singer had assured herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had many commitments.

“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after eight years without an album and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have shown malignant cells.’” 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.’”

I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself

She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but now I just walked with a gown on and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened recently and my one side now looks like a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”

The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her breasts, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. So rude! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”

Past Medical Issues

Cornish is familiar with health problems. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s used to health crises. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”

She takes me back to her childhood, already making her debut starring in the stage in a musical (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and young Jessica has become part of the girl group Soul Deep while studying at the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”

Oi, I say, hold on, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees