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You couldn’t make it up, the singer says. There she was gearing up for her new album launch in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for a decade, on top of the world. Then in spring she was found to have cancer in her breast.

The singer-songwriter, birth name Jessica Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an open book, addressing every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, gaslighting, suicide) with typical candour. The first single, No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Then second single, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in May and Cornish was talking to press about how she was thriving, while at the same time dealing with her cancer. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in early July she had a mastectomy.

She shoots me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.

We meet at a studio in London. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with ornate white designs, beige footwear and large glasses. Imagine rocker vibe meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, recalling the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. Jessie is fast-thinking, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her first comedy performance soon. “I enjoy humor. During performances I often tease the crowd.”

Personal Battles and News

Cornish was planning an appearance at the ceremony when she discovered a mass. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an scan, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the start of the week. By then she had persuaded herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.

“Just two weeks before from debuting the project after years away and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have come back as high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”

Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness

She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but then I just walked with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened a few months back and my right breast now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”

The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”

A History of Health Challenges

She is no stranger to illness. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s used to physical challenges. Frequently they align with professional successes, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has often paired with achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”

She recalls to her youth, already beginning starring in the stage in a musical (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and young Jessica has joined the girl group Soul Deep while attending the academy. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”

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