Grammy award-winning Welsh singer Duffy (Aimee Anne Duffy) took to Instagram today after a long social media hiatus to let startled fans know why she suddenly disappeared from the music scene in 2011 soon after releasing her second album.
Duffy revealed to shocked fans that she has been struggling to recover after she was kidnapped, drugged, and raped.
Duffy assured fans that she has recovered
Duffy, 35, made the startling announcement today on Instagram after she last posted in 2017. She wrote in her lengthy statement that she was “raped and drugged and held captive for some days.”
“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.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/B8_95uYhFMQ/
Duffy did not reveal any details about the alleged crime, such as when it happened, where, and who was responsible. However, she told her fans that she was now ready to talk about her experience after a journalist reached out to her last summer.
Anticipating questions about why she withdrew from her promising career instead of using her music to express her pain, Duffy said that she did not want to show the world her sadness and that she did not believe she could sing from her heart if it is broken.
But she assured her fans that she has recovered and that she will soon post a spoken interview during which she would answer questions by her fans.
“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.”
Duffy’s life includes trauma, Grammy win
Duffy was born in June 1984 to British parents John and Joyce Duffy. She grew up in the small Welsh town of Nefyn in Gwynedd, Wales.
She has a twin sister Kate and an older sister Kelly.
Her parents divorced when she was 10 years old. After that, she moved with her mother and sisters to Letterston in North Pembrokeshire, Wales.
She received her elementary and high school education in Wales. She attended the University of Chester (Warrington Campus) in England where she studied Commercial Music Production. She later studied Performing Arts at the Parkgate Road Campus.
She went through a traumatizing experience at the age of 14, after her parents broke up and her mother remarried. Police uncovered a plot to assassinate her stepfather. The plot was hatched by his ex-wife.
Duffy recalled that she felt terrified and ill during the period.
Duffy is best known for her hit singles Rockferry (2007) and Mercy (2008). She was nominated for Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for Mercy. She also won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album for her debut album Rockferry.
Duffy was also nominated in other categories at the Grammy Awards including Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Best New Artist, both of which she lost to singer Adele.
However, Rockferry was a smash hit as it was certified Platinum multiple times and hit number one on the charts in several countries.
She released her second studio album Endlessly in 2010. Endlessly was not nearly as successful as Rockferry.
In February 2011, Duffy announced she was taking a hiatus from music. But she made her acting debut in 2010 with an appearance in the movie Patagonia and also appeared in the 2015 film Legend.
A Duffy posted a cryptic Instagram post in December of 2019 that had fans wondering if she might be releasing new music, but nothing else was revealed or confirmed since that post.