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You couldn’t make it up, the singer remarks. At that moment readying for her first album release in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for ten years, riding high. Suddenly in March she was told she had cancer in her breast.

The artist, real name Jess Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The LP, her latest release, was intended as an candid account, tackling every moment of pain she’d faced since she last recorded music (endometriosis, miscarriage, failed relationships, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The lead track, No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Later follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in May and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while still secretly coping with her cancer. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in the start of summer she underwent breast removal surgery.

She offers me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every interview, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.

Our interview takes place at a photo studio in the capital. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and oversized specs. Picture rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Jessie is fast-thinking, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her initial standup show in the coming year. “I like entertaining. When performing I often tease the audience.”

Personal Battles and News

The artist was preparing for an appearance at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an test, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the Monday. By then the singer had assured herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.

“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after a long hiatus and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have come back as high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I 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 hate being put under. They lead you. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but then 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 adds, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy recently and my right breast now looks like a fruit under fabric.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”

The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”

Past Medical Issues

Cornish is no stranger to illness. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”

She takes me back to her childhood, already beginning starring in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and teenage Jess has become part of the trio the group while studying at the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a year.”

Hey, I say, slow down, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees