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You can’t imagine it, the singer states. At that moment readying for her first album release in eight years, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in March she was found to have breast cancer.

The singer-songwriter, real name Jessica Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an open book, addressing every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, broken romances, psychological manipulation, suicide) with typical candour. The first single, her single No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Then next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and she was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while dealing with breast cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in early July she received surgical treatment.

She offers me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.

We meet at a photo studio in London. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, cream boots and large glasses. Imagine rocker vibe meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, thinking of the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. Jessie is quick, bold and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show in the coming year. “I like entertaining. On stage I often tease the crowd.”

Personal Battles and News

The artist was planning an slot at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an test, and they said, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the Monday. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had many commitments.

“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have come back as high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”

Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am

She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They lead you. During crises you roll down in a bed, but this time I just marched with a gown on and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, Cornish says, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but yet Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal four months ago and my affected breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”

The subsequent surgery is for health and appearance. Her boobs, she notes, are now “different sizes. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”

Past Medical Issues

Cornish is familiar with health problems. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s familiar with health crises. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”

She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut starring in the London theater in the production (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward several years, and teenage Jess has become part of the female band Soul Deep while enrolled in the academy. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was about to put out music in recently I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a year.”

Wow, I say, wait, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees