Madonna Reveals She Was Raped When She First Moved To New York

Madonna left Michigan in her early 20s and moved to New York City to pursue her dreams, but The Big Apple was rough on the future pop queen.

In a frank essay for the November issue of Harper’s Bazaar, the 55-year-old opened up about her early days in the new and dangerous city.

“Most people thought I was strange. I didn’t have many friends; I might not have had any friends. But it all turned out good in the end, because when you aren’t popular and you don’t have a social life, it gives you more time to focus on your future. And for me, that was going to New York to become a REAL artist. To be able to express myself in a city of nonconformists. To revel and shimmy and shake in a world and be surrounded by daring people,” she wrote.

PHOTOS: Madonna – Music’s Royal Madgesty!

Her first year in New York was actually filled with numerous incidents of violence and assault.

“New York wasn’t everything I thought it would be. It did not welcome me with open arms. The first year, I was held up at gunpoint. Raped on the roof of a building I was dragged up to with a knife in my back, and had my apartment broken into three times. I don’t know why; I had nothing of value after they took my radio the first time,” she continued.

Despite the singer’s early troubles, she explained that she felt transported to a place unlike any other and it gave her the power to endure.

“The tall buildings and the massive scale of New York took my breath away. The sizzling-hot sidewalks and the noise of the traffic and the electricity of the people rushing by me on the streets was a shock to my neurotransmitters. I felt like I had plugged into another universe,” she continued.

Adding, “I felt like a warrior plunging my way through the crowds to survive. Blood pumping through my veins, I was poised for survival. I felt alive.”

— Jesse Spero