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You couldn’t make it up, the singer says. At that moment readying for her first album release in eight years, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and finally the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for a decade, on top of the world. Then in spring she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.

The artist, real name Jess Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The album, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an candid account, addressing every moment of pain she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, losing a baby, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The first single, No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Later follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, came out in May and she was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time dealing with breast cancer. A month later she shared the news, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.

She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo reconstructive surgery.

We meet at a photo studio in London. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with ornate white designs, cream boots and oversized specs. Picture biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, thinking of the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. Cornish is fast-thinking, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her first comedy performance soon. “I enjoy humor. On stage I basically roast the fans.”

Health Struggles and Diagnosis

She was planning an appearance at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then the singer had convinced herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.

“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after eight years without an album and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call expecting it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have come back as aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”

Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness

She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but then I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened a few months back and my affected breast now looks like a odd shape.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”

The follow-up procedure is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she observes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”

A History of Health Challenges

She is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to remind her not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”

She recalls to her youth, already starting her career featuring in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and teenage Jess has entered the girl group Soul Deep while studying at the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a collision and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”

Wow, I say, wait, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees