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You can’t imagine it, the singer remarks. At that moment readying for her first album release in eight years, blissfully happy with her current love, and at long last the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for ten years, on top of the world. Suddenly in spring she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.

The musician, birth name J. Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an open book, addressing every moment of pain she’d endured since she last recorded music (endometriosis, miscarriage, broken romances, gaslighting, suicide) with her usual frankness. The lead track, No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Then next release, her song Living My Best Life, came out in May and she was giving interviews about how she was living her best life, while at the same time living with the disease. Subsequently she went public, and in the start of summer she underwent breast removal surgery.

She offers me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.

We meet at a photography studio in London. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with elaborate white patches, cream boots and large glasses. Picture biker chic meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. Cornish is sharp-witted, irreverent and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is hoping to make her standup debut next year. “I love making people laugh. On stage I basically roast the audience.”

Medical Challenges and Discovery

The artist was planning an performance at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then she had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.

“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after years away and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”

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

She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. During crises you roll down in a bed, but then I just strolled down with a medical attire and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. I had the mastectomy recently and my affected breast now looks like a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”

The follow-up procedure is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! 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 ideal. Illness changed that.”

Past Medical Issues

Cornish is no stranger to illness. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, acting as a reminder, or shock, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”

She takes me back to her childhood, already starting her career featuring in the London theater in the production (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward several years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the girl group the group while attending the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”

Wow, I say, hold on, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees