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You can’t imagine it, the singer says. There she was readying for her first album release in eight years, deeply enamored with her current love, and at long last the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for ten years, on top of the world. Then in spring she was told she had cancer in her breast.

The musician, birth name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The record, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an transparent story, addressing every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, losing a baby, broken romances, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The lead track, No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Later follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while dealing with breast cancer. A month later she went public, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.

She gives me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.

Our interview takes place at a photo studio in the capital. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with ornate white designs, cream boots and oversized specs. Imagine motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. She is sharp-witted, irreverent and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show next year. “I enjoy humor. When performing I frequently joke about the crowd.”

Personal Battles and News

The artist was planning an slot at the awards show when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the Monday. By then the singer had assured herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to face illness when she had many commitments.

“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after eight years without an album and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”

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

She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. They lead you. During crises you go on a gurney, but this time I just marched with a hospital gown and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal a few months back and my right breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”

The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I felt, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”

A History of Health Challenges

The singer is no stranger to illness. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s used to medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”

She recalls to her childhood, already making her debut featuring in the stage in a musical (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and teenage Jess has joined the female band Soul Deep while enrolled in the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a long period.”

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