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You couldn’t make it up, the singer remarks. There she was preparing for her first album release in eight years, deeply enamored with her current love, and at long last the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for a decade, riding high. Suddenly in spring she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.

The artist, actual name Jess Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an candid account, tackling every moment of pain she’d faced since she last recorded music (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, broken romances, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Then next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while at the same time coping with breast cancer. A month later she went public, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.

She gives me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.

We meet at a photo studio in London. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and large glasses. Think biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the film. “They used to call me that!” She grins. Cornish is sharp-witted, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is aiming for her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. When performing I basically roast the fans.”

Personal Battles and News

She was preparing for an appearance at the awards show when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it looked at, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had a busy schedule.

“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after eight years without an album and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have come back as high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”

Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness

She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. During crises you are wheeled, but now I just strolled down with a medical attire and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my right breast now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”

The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. That’s impolite! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! Ironically I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”

Previous Struggles

Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s used to medical emergencies. Frequently they align with professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”

She recalls to her youth, already starting her career starring in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the heart condition WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the female band the group while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”

Oi, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees