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You wouldn’t believe it, the singer says. There she was gearing up for her comeback record in eight years, ecstatically in love with her current love, and at long last the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for ten years, riding high. Then in March she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.

The singer-songwriter, actual name J. Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The album, her latest release, was meant as an open book, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, miscarriage, failed relationships, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The first single, her single No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Then follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, came out in May and she was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly dealing with the disease. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in early July she received surgical treatment.

She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” look. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every interview, and they’re, like, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.

We’re at a photo studio in London. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and big frames. Picture motorcycle style meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, thinking of the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. She is quick, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. During performances I often tease the fans.”

Health Struggles and Diagnosis

She was planning an performance at the awards show when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an test, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the start of the week. By then the singer had assured herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.

“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after eight years without an album and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have come back as aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”

I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself

She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but then I just strolled down with a medical attire and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal a few months back and my one side now looks like a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”

The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she notes, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”

Previous Struggles

The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in medical emergencies. Frequently they align with career highs, acting as a reminder, or blow, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; a major or strange event has impacted my body.”

She recalls to her childhood, already making her debut featuring in the London theater in the production (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the medical problem Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and young Jessica has become part of the trio Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a year.”

Oi, I say, hold on, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees