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You couldn’t make it up, the singer remarks. There she was gearing up for her comeback record in eight years, ecstatically in love with her current love, and at long last the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for a decade, on top of the world. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with cancer in her breast.

The artist, real name Jess Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The record, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an open book, addressing every moment of pain she’d endured since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, losing a baby, broken romances, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The lead track, No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Later follow-up track, Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time living with breast cancer. Four weeks after she went public, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.

She gives me her best “Seriously?” look. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” she has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.

Our interview takes place at a photography studio in the capital. She is wearing a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and oversized specs. Imagine motorcycle style meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. Jessie is fast-thinking, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show next year. “I enjoy humor. During performances I often tease the crowd.”

Personal Battles and News

The artist was preparing for an performance at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d call on the start of the week. By then the singer had assured herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had so much on.

“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after a long hiatus and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have shown aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”

I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself

She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but this time I just strolled down with a gown on and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened a few months back and my one side now appears as a odd shape.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”

The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”

Previous Struggles

She is familiar with health problems. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s experienced in physical challenges. Frequently they align with professional successes, acting as a reminder, or shock, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”

She recalls to her youth, already starting her career starring in the West End in the production (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and young Jessica has entered the female band Soul Deep while attending the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”

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