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You couldn’t make it up, the singer says. There she was readying for her comeback record in eight years, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and finally the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for ten years, riding high. Suddenly in spring she was found to have cancer in her breast.

The musician, actual name Jess Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an open book, addressing every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, losing a baby, broken romances, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Later follow-up track, Living My Best Life, came out in May and she was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while all the while dealing with her cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.

She gives me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.

Our interview takes place at a studio in the capital. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and oversized specs. Imagine rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the film. “They used to call me that!” She grins. She is sharp-witted, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her standup debut in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. On stage I frequently joke about the fans.”

Personal Battles and News

The artist was getting ready for an performance at the ceremony when she discovered a mass. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to get cancer when she had many commitments.

“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after a long hiatus and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have shown malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”

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

She considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I hate being put under. They lead you. During crises you are wheeled, but then I just strolled down with a medical attire and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened a few months back and my one side now appears as a odd shape.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”

The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. Illness changed that.”

Previous Struggles

Cornish is no stranger to illness. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s used to health crises. Frequently they align with peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”

She recalls to her youth, already starting her career performing in the stage in a musical (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has joined the female band the group while enrolled in the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”

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