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You wouldn’t believe it, the singer remarks. There she was gearing up for her first album release in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and at long last the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in March she was diagnosed with cancer in her breast.

The musician, birth name Jess Cornish, is famous for being brutally honest. The album, her latest release, was supposed to be an open book, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, miscarriage, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Then second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and she was talking to press about how she was thriving, while at the same time dealing with breast cancer. A month later she shared the news, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.

She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.

We meet at a photography studio in the capital. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and big frames. Imagine motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. Cornish is fast-thinking, bold and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her initial standup show in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. When performing I often tease the crowd.”

Personal Battles and News

She was preparing for an slot at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d call on the start of the week. By then Cornish had assured 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 releasing the album after years away and four years without a single. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have indicated aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt 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. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but then I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “It’s terrible, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal four months ago and my affected breast now appears as a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”

The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she observes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”

Previous Struggles

Cornish is no stranger to illness. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s used to medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”

She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already beginning performing in the London theater in a musical (she was selected 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 dizziness and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the trio the group while studying at the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a long period.”

Oi, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees