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You can’t imagine it, the singer remarks. There she was readying for her comeback record in eight years, blissfully happy with her current love, and finally the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for a decade, on top of the world. Suddenly in spring she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.

The artist, birth name Jess Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an open book, tackling every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last recorded music (endometriosis, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Later next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and the artist was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while still secretly dealing with the disease. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in early July she had a mastectomy.

She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.

We meet at a photo studio in London. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and large glasses. Imagine rocker vibe meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, thinking of the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. Jessie is quick, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance next year. “I enjoy humor. During performances I basically roast the crowd.”

Medical Challenges and Discovery

She was preparing for an slot at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an test, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the start of the week. By then Cornish had assured herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.

“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after a long hiatus and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your biopsy results have come back as malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”

Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness

She found the surgery scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you roll down in a bed, but this time I just marched with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “It’s terrible, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal four months ago and my right breast now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”

The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I felt, why make it worse, 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 obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”

A History of Health Challenges

The singer is familiar with health problems. She believes her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, acting as a reminder, or blow, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”

She recalls to her childhood, already making her debut featuring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and young Jessica has become part of the trio the group while studying at the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a year.”

Wow, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees