'I’m a Leeds singer living with terminal cancer - now I'm using music to celebrate unsung heroes'

A Leeds woman living with terminal cancer is releasing an original song to mark Mental Health Awareness Week and celebrate the unsung heroes navigating adversity.

Morley-based musician Jos Mclaren’s new single ‘You Wear it Well’ will be available to listen to on online streaming platforms from Tuesday April 12.

For Jos, the song is a tribute to those who show a quiet resilience against adversity.

“There’s lots of people who carry weights that we don’t see. They carry those things very quietly, they don’t shout about them, they don’t advertise what’s going on,” Jos told the Yorkshire Evening Post.

“I felt that strength and compassion is something that really needs championing for those people who maybe feel like they don’t have anything left to give and that they’re not good enough.”

Jos, who is originally from Buckinghamshire, found her love for music at an early age.

“I grew up singing at church. My mum was very musical, there was always music in the house so it’s just always something that's been part of who I am and that I love doing,” she said.

However, after she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2020 at the age of 41, music became a source of therapy and Jos decided to start sharing her music with others.

Jos said: “I wrote the song ‘Dying to Live’ to process what was going on with me. It was a way of me working through it but when I’d finished it, I thought maybe it could help other people too.”

After recording Dying to Live at the famous Abbey Road Studios in London, Jos has since released a number of songs including original song ‘The One Thing I Would Do’ and a cover of ‘Kiss Me’ by Sixpence None the Richer.

Though Jos was initially diagnosed with stage two breast cancer, doctors later discovered that the tumour had spread to her spine and they said her cancer was terminal.

It was difficult news to hear but Jos was determined to prove their predictions wrong.

“The day I got diagnosed something seemed to change in me,” Jos said.

“They said we’re thinking you have one to two years but I said no, I challenge you to at least five to ten.”

“I’m super proud to be 47 because I wasn’t supposed to be here anymore. I’m still on medication which has minimal side effects but I feel like I’m doing more now than I’ve ever done before which is incredible.”

Jos said that music, alongside her faith, has given her a “massive motivation in living”.

Her new song ‘You Wear It Well’ was inspired by Mental Health Awareness Week which aims to raise awareness and reduce the stigma surrounding mental health.

She wants the song to recognise the invisible struggles people face and to celebrate how they keep going.

Jos said: “Sometimes resilience doesn’t look loud, it’s simply continuing and wearing it well. I was thinking about all those people in my life who really inspire me by the way that they live despite what’s going on.

“It’s a real celebration saying look I see you and I couldn’t walk a mile in your shoes and yet you’re running.

“You keep going every single day and you keep showing up with grace and dignity.”