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You can’t imagine it, the singer says. At that moment gearing up for her comeback record in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her current love, and at long last the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in spring she was told she had cancer in her breast.

The singer-songwriter, birth name Jess Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an candid account, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, suicide) with characteristic openness. The first single, No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Later next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and she was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time coping with the disease. A month later she went public, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.

She gives me her best “Seriously?” look. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.

Our interview takes place at a studio in the capital. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and oversized specs. Think rocker vibe meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, recalling the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. Jessie is fast-thinking, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. During performances I frequently joke about the crowd.”

Personal Battles and News

The artist was getting ready for an performance at the ceremony when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the Monday. By then the singer had assured herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had so much on.

“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after years away and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have indicated malignant cells.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. 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. They lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but this time I just marched with a medical attire and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal four months ago and my one side now appears as a odd shape.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”

The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her boobs, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I felt, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be ideal. Illness changed that.”

A History of Health Challenges

The singer is familiar with health problems. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis 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 take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘Things going well? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has often paired with achievements for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”

She takes me back to her youth, already beginning starring in the West End in the production (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and young Jessica has joined the female band the group while enrolled in the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”

Hey, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees