Singer Marcus Mumford has revealed he was sexually abused when he was six.
The frontman of British folk rock band Mumford & Sons says he hit rock bottom in 2019 and then received therapy where during the second session he was physically ill while talking about what happened to him as a child.
Mumford, who was born in California to English parents, said she addressed the abuse in the lyrics to her first solo single called Cannibal, which is on her debut solo album.
In a new interview with GQ magazine, the 35-year-old star: “Like a lot of people, and I’m learning more and more about this as we go along and as I play it out to people, I was sexually abused as a child . . .
“Neither by family nor by the church, which might be an assumption of some.”
Image: Winston Marshall (second right) left the band in 2021. The group consists of (L-R) Ben Lovett, Marcus Mumford and Ted Dwane. Image: AP
Cannibal begins, “I can still taste you and I hate it. It wasn’t a choice in a child’s mind and you knew it. You took my first slice and ate it raw. You tore it off with your teeth. and your lips like a cannibal. You’re a fucking animal.”
Mumford’s parents were leaders of the evangelical Christian denomination Vineyard Churches in the UK and Ireland for two decades.
She said she hadn’t told anyone about the abuse, including her mother, in about 30 years.
He heard Cannibal’s song and two days later asked him what it was about.
He said, “Yes, it’s about the abuse.” She said, ‘What are you talking about?'”
Mumford said he was struggling in 2019, a year when the band was touring to promote their Delta album.
He said: “I was at the point where I had basically hit rock bottom enough that I was ready to give up.
“I had the people closest to me hold up a mirror and say, ‘Dude, something’s not right here and it’s your responsibility to go figure it out.’
Image: Mumford is married to actress Carey Mulligan
Mumford, who is married to actress Carey Mulligan, said he went to see a trauma therapist and on the second session he started vomiting.
“Apparently, it’s very common,” he said, “once you basically unhook the denial and start the process of removing some suppression, then it’s very natural for these things to come up.
“I’d had trouble breathing all my life. Not asthma, but, like, getting my breath back.”
She also told GQ that the abuse was “the first in a series of really unusual and unhealthy sexual experiences at a very early age.”
He added that “for some reason, and I don’t really understand why, I didn’t become a sexual abuser.”
She now said she feels “freer than I have in a long time” after shedding “the layers of shame”.
Mumford & Sons formed in 2007 and have released four studio albums.
They have sold over 14 million albums, including six million in the US and over three million in the UK.
They are known for hits like I Will Wait, The Cave and Little Lion Man.
:: Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK.