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You can’t imagine it, the singer says. At that moment readying for her first album release in eight years, blissfully happy with her current love, and at long last the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for ten years, riding high. Suddenly in spring she was found to have breast cancer.

The singer-songwriter, actual name Jess Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an open book, tackling every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last worked on songs (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, broken romances, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Later next release, Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while all the while dealing with her cancer. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in early July she received surgical treatment.

She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.

We’re at a photography studio in London. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and big frames. Think rocker vibe meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the picture. “They used to call me that!” She beams. Cornish is quick, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her standup debut in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. On stage I often tease the crowd.”

Medical Challenges and Discovery

She was planning an performance at the ceremony when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was serious she’d contact on the Monday. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had many commitments.

“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after eight years without an album and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have shown malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”

Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness

She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. During crises you are wheeled, but this time I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal recently and my right breast now appears as a fruit under fabric.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”

The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she observes, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I felt, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”

Previous Struggles

Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s experienced in physical challenges. Frequently they align with professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”

She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already beginning performing in the stage in the production (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward several years, and young Jessica has become part of the female band the group while studying at the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”

Hey, I say, slow down, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees