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You wouldn’t believe it, the singer states. There she was readying for her comeback record in eight years, ecstatically in love with her current love, and at long last the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for ten years, on top of the world. Then in March she was told she had cancer in her breast.

The artist, actual name Jess Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an transparent story, addressing every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last made an album (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Then follow-up track, Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and the artist was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while still secretly living with the disease. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in July she received surgical treatment.

She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.

We meet at a studio in London. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and large glasses. Imagine rocker vibe meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. Jessie is quick, bold and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance next year. “I love making people laugh. On stage I basically roast the audience.”

Personal Battles and News

Cornish was preparing for an appearance at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an test, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor 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 a busy schedule.

“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after years away and no new music. And the doctor messaged 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 good, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have shown aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”

Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness

She viewed the procedure frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They lead you. During crises you go on a gurney, but then I just walked with a gown on and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but however Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened four months ago and my affected breast now looks like a odd shape.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”

The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she notes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. Cancer ruined that plan.”

A History of Health Challenges

The singer is familiar with health problems. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s used to physical challenges. They have often coincided with career highs, acting as a reminder, or blow, to remind her not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”

She takes me back to her youth, already starting her career featuring in the stage in a musical (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has entered the female band Soul Deep while studying at the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in recently I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a year.”

Wow, I say, hold on, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees