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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, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and finally the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for ten years, riding high. Suddenly in spring she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.

The musician, birth name J. Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The album, her latest release, was supposed to be an transparent story, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, broken romances, gaslighting, suicide) with her usual frankness. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Then follow-up track, Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while still secretly living with her cancer. Subsequently she shared the news, and in early July she received surgical treatment.

She gives me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.

We’re at a photo studio in London. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with ornate white designs, beige footwear and large glasses. Imagine rocker vibe meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the film. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. She is fast-thinking, bold and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is hoping to make her standup debut in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. On stage I basically roast the crowd.”

Health Struggles and Diagnosis

Cornish was planning an slot at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the start of the week. By then she had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.

“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after a long hiatus and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have shown aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”

Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness

She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you roll down in a bed, but this time I just walked with a hospital gown and my backside out. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my one side now appears as a odd shape.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”

The follow-up procedure is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I felt, don’t add insult to injury, 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. My plans were disrupted.”

Past Medical Issues

Cornish is no stranger to illness. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with health crises. Frequently they align with professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”

She reminisces to her childhood, already making her debut performing in the stage in a musical (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the trio Soul Deep while enrolled in the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”

Wow, I say, wait, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees