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You wouldn’t believe it, the singer states. There she was readying for her first album release in eight years, ecstatically in love with her current love, and finally the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for a decade, riding high. Suddenly in spring she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.

The singer-songwriter, real name Jessica Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The album, her latest release, was supposed to be an candid account, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d endured since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, miscarriage, broken romances, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The initial release, No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Later second single, Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and she was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while still secretly dealing with her cancer. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in July she had a mastectomy.

She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.

Our interview takes place at a photography studio in London. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and large glasses. Picture rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Jessie is sharp-witted, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her standup debut in the coming year. “I like entertaining. On stage I often tease the fans.”

Personal Battles and News

She was preparing for an performance at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an test, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d call on the start of the week. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.

“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after a long hiatus and no new music. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have indicated aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”

Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness

She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but this time I just walked with a medical attire and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal recently and my one side now appears as a odd shape.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”

The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I felt, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”

Past Medical Issues

Cornish is familiar with health problems. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in health crises. Frequently they align with career highs, acting as a reminder, or shock, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”

She recalls to her youth, already starting her career performing in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the medical problem WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has entered the female band Soul Deep while enrolled in the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a long period.”

Hey, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees