Grammy award-winning singer Duffy has revealed how a traumatic experience in which she was drugged, raped and held captive by an attacker kept her out of the limelight.
The 35-year-old Mercy artist hadn’t been active since the seven-times-platinum success of her debut album Rockferry.
Taking to her official Instagram account, Duffy – whose full name is Aimee Anne Duffy – assured followers: ‘Please trust me I am ok and safe now,’ as she revealed her horrific ordeal.
In a lengthy post, the Welsh singer explains a journalist had found a way to contact her over summer last year. ‘He was kind and it felt so amazing to finally speak,’ she wrote, acknowledging that many people had wondered ‘what happened to me, where did I disappear to and why’.
The post reads:
You can only imagine the amount of times I thought about writing this. The way I would write it, how I would feel thereafter. Well, not entirely sure why now is the right time, and what it is that feels exciting and liberating for me to talk.
The truth is, and please trust me I am ok and safe now, I was raped and drugged and held captive over some days. Of course I survived. The recovery took time. There’s no light way to say it. But I can tell you in the last decade, the thousands and thousands of days I committed to wanting to feel the sunshine in my heart again, the sun does now shine.
You wonder why I did not choose to use my voice to express my pain? I did not want to show the world the sadness in my eyes. I asked myself, how can I sing from the heart if it is broken? And slowly it un-broke.
Her post doesn’t detail who the attacker was or when the incident took place, however Duffy added that she will be posting a spoken interview in coming weeks. ‘If you have any questions I would like to answer them, in the spoken interview, if I can. I have a sacred love and sincere appreciation for your kindness over the years. You have been friends. I want to thank you for that,’ she added.
The singer has received a tidal wave of support all around the word, with fans and musicians alike sending loving comments and tweets.
Her 2008 single Mercy sold more than 500,000 copies in the UK and went to number one in 12 countries, winning three Brit Awards and a Grammy.
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact the Rape Crisis England and Wales helpline on 0808 802 9999 between 12pm–2.30pm and 7pm– 9.30pm every day. Alternatively, you can contact Victim Support free on 08 08 16 89 111 available 24/7, every day of the year, including Christmas.
After graduating from Glasgow Caledonian University with an NCTJ and BCTJ-accredited Multimedia Journalism degree, Cameron ventured into the world of print journalism at The National, while also working as a freelance film journalist on the side, becoming an accredited Rotten Tomatoes critic in the process. He’s now left his Scottish homelands and took up residence at UNILAD as a journalist.