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You wouldn’t believe it, the singer states. At that moment readying for her new album launch in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and at long last the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.

The musician, real name J. Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The LP, her latest release, was intended as an candid account, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last recorded music (endometriosis, miscarriage, broken romances, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The initial release, No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Later second single, her song Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and the artist was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while all the while living with breast cancer. Four weeks after she went public, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.

She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.

We’re at a studio in London. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, cream boots and oversized specs. Picture biker chic meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. Cornish is quick, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance soon. “I love making people laugh. During performances I basically roast the fans.”

Health Struggles and Diagnosis

She was planning an performance at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d contact on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.

“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after eight years without an album and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have shown aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”

I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself

She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but now I just marched with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened a few months back and my one side now looks like a odd shape.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”

The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her boobs, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery 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 thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s used to physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”

She recalls to her youth, already beginning starring in the stage in the production (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the medical problem WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the trio Soul Deep while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”

Wow, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees