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You couldn’t make it up, the singer says. There she was preparing for her comeback record in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and finally the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in spring she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.

The singer-songwriter, actual name Jess Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an open book, addressing every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The first single, No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Later follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and the artist was talking to press about how she was thriving, while still secretly living with her cancer. Subsequently she shared the news, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.

She shoots me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” she has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.

Our interview takes place at a photo studio in the capital. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and large glasses. Picture biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s 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 smiles. Jessie is quick, bold and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance next year. “I like entertaining. During performances I frequently joke about the fans.”

Medical Challenges and Discovery

She was getting ready for an performance at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an test, and they said, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d contact on the Monday. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had a busy schedule.

“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after years away and four years without a single. And she contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have come back as malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great 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 found the surgery scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. They walk you down. During crises you are wheeled, but now I just walked with a medical attire and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal recently and my one side now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”

The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! Ironically 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

The singer is no stranger to illness. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s used to health crises. Frequently they align with career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has impacted my body.”

She reminisces to her youth, already making her debut starring in the West End in the production (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the female band Soul Deep while enrolled in the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a long period.”

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