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You couldn’t make it up, the singer says. There she was readying for her first album release in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and finally the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for a decade, on top of the world. Then in March she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

The artist, birth name J. Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The record, her latest release, was meant as an candid account, addressing every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Then follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in May and she was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time living with the disease. A month later she shared the news, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.

She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.

We’re at a photography studio in London. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with ornate white designs, cream boots and big frames. Picture biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the film. “They used to call me that!” She beams. She is quick, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her standup debut soon. “I love making people laugh. During performances I often tease the fans.”

Personal Battles and News

The artist was planning an performance at the awards show when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was serious she’d contact on the start of the week. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had many commitments.

“It was a fortnight prior 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 assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have come back as malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”

I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself

She considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. In urgent cases you go on a gurney, but now I just marched with a gown on and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened four months ago and my right breast now resembles a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”

The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. That’s impolite! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. So rude! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. Illness changed that.”

Past Medical Issues

The singer is familiar with health problems. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s used to medical emergencies. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to be complacent. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”

She takes me back to her youth, already making her debut starring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead six years, and teenage Jess has become part of the female band the group while studying at the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”

Oi, I say, slow down, I am overwhelmed. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees