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You wouldn’t believe it, the singer remarks. At that moment preparing for her comeback record in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her current love, and finally the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for a decade, on top of the world. Then in March she was told she had cancer in her breast.

The musician, actual name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The record, her latest release, was supposed to be an candid account, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last recorded music (endometriosis, miscarriage, failed relationships, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Later next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was living her best life, while at the same time living with her cancer. A month later she shared the news, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.

She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.

We meet at a photography studio in London. She is wearing a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and large glasses. Think biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. She is quick, bold and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her initial standup show in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. When performing I basically roast the audience.”

Medical Challenges and Discovery

Cornish was getting ready for an performance at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an test, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d call on the start of the week. By then the singer had convinced herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to get cancer when she had so much on.

“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after years away and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have come back as aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great 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 frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They lead you. During crises you go on a gurney, but now I just marched with a gown on and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal a few months back and my one side now appears as a odd shape.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”

The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she notes, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! 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 familiar with health problems. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s experienced in health crises. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”

She recalls to her childhood, already starting her career starring in the West End in a musical (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the girl group Soul Deep while attending the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”

Oi, I say, slow down, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees