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You couldn’t make it up, the singer says. At that moment gearing up for her new album launch in eight years, ecstatically in love with her current love, and at long last the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for a decade, feeling invincible. Then in March she was told she had breast cancer.

The musician, real name J. Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an candid account, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d endured since she last made an album (endometrial issues, miscarriage, failed relationships, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The illness. Then second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and she was talking to press about how she was thriving, while at the same time dealing with the disease. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in July she received surgical treatment.

She shoots me her best “Are you kidding?” look. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.

We’re at a studio in London. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and large glasses. Picture rocker vibe meets vintage look. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, referencing the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. She is sharp-witted, bold and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her initial standup show next year. “I like entertaining. During performances I basically roast the audience.”

Health Struggles and Diagnosis

The artist was preparing for an performance at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an test, and they said, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d call on the Monday. By then Cornish had assured herself it was fine. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to face illness when she had a busy schedule.

“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after a long hiatus and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be positive, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have indicated aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”

Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am

She viewed the procedure frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but this time I just marched with a gown on and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “It’s terrible, but however I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened a few months back and my affected breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”

The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a hard period. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”

Previous Struggles

She is no stranger to illness. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in physical challenges. Frequently they align with peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to make her recall not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside high points for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”

She reminisces to her childhood, already beginning starring in the West End in a musical (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has joined the female band the group while studying at the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a collision and my throat was injured and I couldn’t sing for a long period.”

Hey, I say, wait, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees