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You wouldn’t believe it, the singer remarks. There she was preparing for her new album launch in eight years, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and at long last the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for a decade, on top of the world. Suddenly in March she was told she had breast cancer.

The artist, birth name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The album, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an transparent story, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The initial release, No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Then next release, her song Living My Best Life, came out in May and she was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while coping with her cancer. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in July she received surgical treatment.

She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.

Our interview takes place at a photography studio in London. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with ornate white designs, off-white boots and big frames. Picture rocker vibe meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the movie. “They used to call me that!” She grins. Jessie is sharp-witted, bold and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. During performances I often tease the fans.”

Personal Battles and News

The artist was getting ready for an appearance at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d call on the Monday. By then the singer had assured herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had many commitments.

“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after years away and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have come back as aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”

Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness

She considered the operation terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. They lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you roll down in a bed, but now I just strolled down with a medical attire and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but however Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy recently and my one side now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”

The next operation is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she notes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”

Previous Struggles

She is no stranger to illness. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, acting as a reminder, or shock, to remind her not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside high points for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”

She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut featuring in the stage in the production (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has entered the female band Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was about to put out music in recently I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a year.”

Hey, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees