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You can’t imagine it, the singer states. At that moment gearing up for her new album launch in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her current love, and at long last the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in March she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.

The artist, actual name Jess Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The album, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an transparent story, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, broken romances, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Then next release, Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and the artist was talking to press about how she was thriving, while at the same time living with breast cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in early July she received surgical treatment.

She shoots me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.

We meet at a studio in London. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with elaborate white patches, cream boots and oversized specs. Think motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, referencing the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. She is fast-thinking, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show next year. “I enjoy humor. On stage I often tease the fans.”

Medical Challenges and Discovery

Cornish was getting ready for an slot at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an scan, and they said, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d call on the Monday. By then she had persuaded herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to get cancer when she had many commitments.

“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your biopsy results have come back as aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”

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

She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but then I just walked with a medical attire and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “It’s terrible, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal a few months back and my affected breast now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”

The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her chest, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”

Past Medical Issues

Cornish is no stranger to illness. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s used to health crises. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, acting as a reminder, or shock, to remind her not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside high points for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”

She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already beginning performing in the London theater in a musical (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has joined the girl group Soul Deep while attending the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”

Oi, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees