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You wouldn’t believe it, the singer says. There she was preparing for her first album release in eight years, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and at long last the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for ten years, riding high. Then in March she was diagnosed with cancer in her breast.

The singer-songwriter, birth name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an transparent story, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last made an album (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, broken romances, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Then second single, her song Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and she was giving interviews about how she was living her best life, while all the while dealing with breast cancer. A month later she went public, and in early July she received surgical treatment.

She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.

We’re at a studio in London. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and large glasses. Think motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. Cornish is fast-thinking, bold and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. On stage I basically roast the audience.”

Medical Challenges and Discovery

Cornish was preparing for an appearance at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an test, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the Monday. By then she had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had many commitments.

“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have come back as malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”

Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness

She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. They walk you down. In urgent cases you go on a gurney, but this time I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal recently and my one side now appears as a odd shape.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”

The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she notes, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”

Past Medical Issues

She is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s familiar with physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with high points for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”

She recalls to her childhood, already beginning featuring in the London theater in a musical (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 tachycardia as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the trio Soul Deep while enrolled in the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”

Hey, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees