Madonna: I Was Raped at Knifepoint on a Rooftop During My First Year in NYC

Madonna has revealed she was raped at knife point in her youth, Us Weekly reported Friday.

The Queen of Pop is the cover for November's Harper's Bazaar. She shared in an essay that she was sexually assaulted when she first came to New York at the start of her career. She had left her home in Michigan with the intent on becoming a star, but found herself a victim.

"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," Madonna wrote.

The Ray of Light singer added that she "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."

The year was 1978. Madonna had dropped out of college to pursue her dreams. However, it quickly became more than she had anticipated. The 55-year-old said she was hellbent on surviving.

"Trying to be a professional dancer, paying my rent by posing nude for art classes, staring at people staring at me naked. Daring them to think of me as anything but a form they were trying to capture with their pencils and charcoal," she wrote.

Madonna released her breakthrough single Everybody in October 1982. It was the start of a legendary career.

"When you're 25, it's a little bit easier to be daring, especially if you are a pop star, because eccentric behavior is expected from you," she wrote.