'Mercy' singer Duffy reveals she was 'raped, drugged, and held captive'

Grammy winning artist Duffy is finally opening up about her lengthy hiatus from music.

In an Instagram post on Tuesday, she revealed the reason behind her long absence was because she was "raped, drugged, and held captive over some days." The singer wrote that her recovery has been long, and that she has spent her time dedicated to that instead of music.

"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. I cannot explain it," she began her post. "Many of you wonder what happened to me, where did I disappear to and why."

She also revealed that she's spoken to a journalist about her experiences and plans to do a spoken interview in the coming weeks where she hopes to answer any questions fans might have.

"A journalist contacted me, he found a way to reach me and I told him everything this past summer. He was kind and it felt so amazing to finally speak," she wrote. "The truth is, and please trust me I am ok and safe now, I was raped and drugged and held captive over some days."

Opening up about the recovery process, she wrote, "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 unbroke."

In 2008, the Welsh singer burst onto the scene with her debut album Rockferry. It brought her instant success, as it entered the U.K. album charts at No. 1 and became the best-selling album of the year in that country. It sold more than 7 million copies worldwide, and won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album.

Her hit single "Mercy" made her the first Welsh woman to hit No. 1 on the U.K. singles chart since 1983. She also won three 2009 Brit Awards, including British Breakthrough, Best British Female, and Best British Album.

Duffy followed up Rockferry with 2010's Endlessly before announcing she would take an extended hiatus from music. As her absence stretched on to a full decade, fans wondered why she had left music and if she would return.

This Instagram post breaking her silence and revealing the tragic reason behind her hiatus is currently her only post on the social media platform, despite previously teasing new music there.

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