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You can’t imagine it, the singer states. At that moment preparing for her first album release in eight years, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and finally the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for ten years, riding high. Then in March she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.

The musician, real name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The album, her latest release, was meant as an candid account, addressing every moment of pain she’d faced since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Later next release, Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and Cornish was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while coping with the disease. A month later she shared the news, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.

She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every interview, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.

We meet at a photography studio in London. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and large glasses. Think biker chic meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. She is fast-thinking, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance soon. “I enjoy humor. On stage I often tease the audience.”

Personal Battles and News

The artist was planning an performance at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d call on the Monday. By then Cornish 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 debuting the project after a long hiatus and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”

Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness

She viewed the procedure frightening and surreal. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but then I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but however Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened four months ago and my affected breast now looks like a odd shape.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”

The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her boobs, she notes, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”

Previous Struggles

She is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s used to health crises. Many times they occur alongside career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to highlight not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with high points for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”

She reminisces to her childhood, already starting her career starring in the West End in the production (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the medical problem WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward six years, and teenage Jess has become part of the trio Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”

Wow, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees