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You can’t imagine it, the singer states. At that moment preparing for her new album launch in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her current love, and finally the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for ten years, riding high. Suddenly in March she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.

The singer-songwriter, real name J. Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The album, her latest release, was intended as an open book, addressing every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last recorded music (endometriosis, miscarriage, broken romances, gaslighting, suicide) with her usual frankness. The first single, her single No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Later follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in May and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly coping with breast cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in early July she had a mastectomy.

She gives me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.

Our interview takes place at a studio in London. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and oversized specs. Think motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the picture. “They used to call me that!” She beams. Cornish is quick, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. On stage I basically roast the audience.”

Health Struggles and Diagnosis

Cornish was preparing for an slot at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d call on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had many commitments.

“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be positive, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your biopsy results have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”

I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself

She viewed the procedure terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but then I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, Cornish says, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal a few months back and my right breast now resembles a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”

The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”

A History of Health Challenges

The singer is no stranger to illness. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s used to physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, acting as a reminder, or shock, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”

She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already beginning starring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward several years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the female band Soul Deep while studying at the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”

Wow, I say, slow down, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees