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You can’t imagine it, the singer remarks. At that moment readying for her first album release in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her current love, and at long last the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for a decade, feeling invincible. Suddenly in spring she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.

The singer-songwriter, actual name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The record, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an candid account, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d endured since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, losing a baby, broken romances, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Then next release, her song Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while still secretly living with breast cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in July she received surgical treatment.

She offers me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.

Our interview takes place at a photo studio in London. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with ornate white designs, off-white boots and oversized specs. Picture biker chic meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the movie. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. Jessie is fast-thinking, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her first comedy performance next year. “I like entertaining. During performances I frequently joke about the audience.”

Personal Battles and News

She was preparing for an appearance at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an scan, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d call on the Monday. By then she had assured herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.

“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after years away and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have indicated aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”

Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness

She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. During crises you roll down in a bed, but this time I just marched with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal four months ago and my right breast now appears as a odd shape.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”

The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”

Past Medical Issues

The singer is no stranger to illness. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. They have often coincided with career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”

She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut starring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition WPW, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and young Jessica has entered the girl group the group while enrolled in the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a collision and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”

Oi, I say, wait, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees