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You can’t imagine it, the singer says. At that moment gearing up for her new album launch in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her current love, and at long last the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in March she was told she had breast cancer.

The musician, real name Jessica Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an open book, tackling every moment of pain she’d endured since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The lead track, No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Then follow-up track, Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time dealing with breast cancer. A month later she went public, and in July she had a mastectomy.

She shoots me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.

We meet at a studio in the capital. She is wearing a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, cream boots and oversized specs. Picture rocker vibe meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, thinking of the picture. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. Jessie is quick, bold and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her standup debut in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. When performing I frequently joke about the crowd.”

Medical Challenges and Discovery

The artist was getting ready for an slot at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the start of the week. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.

“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after a long hiatus and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have shown aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”

I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself

She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but this time I just walked with a gown on and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal four months ago and my right breast now resembles a odd shape.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”

The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her breasts, she observes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”

Previous Struggles

Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to remind her not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”

She reminisces to her youth, already starting her career featuring in the West End in the production (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and teenage Jess has joined the girl group the group while attending the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 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. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees