By . Simon Boyle . PUBLISHED: . 19:14 EST, 5 October 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 19:15 EST, 5 October 2013 . Madonna has revealed she was raped at knifepoint after arriving in New York as a 19-year-old dreaming of stardom. The attack took place on a Manhattan rooftop, the 55-year-old star told Harper’s Bazaar magazine. She said: ‘New York wasn’t everything I thought it would be. It did not welcome me with open arms. Rooftop attack: Madonna has revealed she was raped at knifepoint after arriving in New York as a 19-year-old dreaming of stardom. Above, a young Madonna poses for the camera . ‘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.’ The music icon recalls how she coped after leaving her family home in Michigan in 1977 thanks to her dogged determination to succeed. ‘I was defiant,’ she said.  ‘Hellbent on surviving. On making it. But it was hard and it was lonely, and I had to dare myself every day to keep going. The music icon, who graces the cover of Harper's Bazaar's November issue, opens up about her 30 years of ruling pop in a personal essay that chronicles her childhood, moving to New York and her rise to fame . 'I was defiant. Hell-bent on surviving. On making it. But it was hard and it was lonely, and I had to dare myself every day to keep going,' the Rochester, Michigan-born singer writes of her first years in Manhattan . '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.’ Madonna did not taste any success until the early 1980s. Worldwide fame arrived in 1984 with the hit single Like A Virgin. She has since sold more than 300 million records. In the interview she recalls her days struggling to make ends meet ‘trying to be a professional dancer, paying my rent by posing nude for art classes, staring at people staring at me naked’. ¿I have been blessed with four amazing children. I try to teach them to think outside the box. To be daring,' explains the singer . The star, who has four children – two of whom are adopted –  also reflects on her life after her divorce from British film director Guy Ritchie in 2008. ‘Here I am, divorced and living in New York,’ she said. ‘I have been blessed with four amazing children. 'I try to teach them to think outside the box. To be daring.’
The music icon reveals she was raped at knifepoint on a Manhatten rooftop .
'New York wasn't everything I thought it would be', says the 55-year-old .
By . Simon Boyle . PUBLISHED: . 19:14 EST, 5 October 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 19:15 EST, 5 October 2013 . Madonna has revealed she was raped at knifepoint after arriving in New York as a 19-year-old dreaming of stardom. The attack took place on a Manhattan rooftop, the 55-year-old star told Harper’s Bazaar magazine. She said: ‘New York wasn’t everything I thought it would be. It did not welcome me with open arms. Rooftop attack: Madonna has revealed she was raped at knifepoint after arriving in New York as a 19-year-old dreaming of stardom. Above, a young Madonna poses for the camera . ‘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.’ The music icon recalls how she coped after leaving her family home in Michigan in 1977 thanks to her dogged determination to succeed. ‘I was defiant,’ she said.  ‘Hellbent on surviving. On making it. But it was hard and it was lonely, and I had to dare myself every day to keep going. The music icon, who graces the cover of Harper's Bazaar's November issue, opens up about her 30 years of ruling pop in a personal essay that chronicles her childhood, moving to New York and her rise to fame . 'I was defiant. Hell-bent on surviving. On making it. But it was hard and it was lonely, and I had to dare myself every day to keep going,' the Rochester, Michigan-born singer writes of her first years in Manhattan . '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.’ Madonna did not taste any success until the early 1980s. Worldwide fame arrived in 1984 with the hit single Like A Virgin. She has since sold more than 300 million records. In the interview she recalls her days struggling to make ends meet ‘trying to be a professional dancer, paying my rent by posing nude for art classes, staring at people staring at me naked’. ¿I have been blessed with four amazing children. I try to teach them to think outside the box. To be daring,' explains the singer . The star, who has four children – two of whom are adopted –  also reflects on her life after her divorce from British film director Guy Ritchie in 2008. ‘Here I am, divorced and living in New York,’ she said. ‘I have been blessed with four amazing children. 'I try to teach them to think outside the box. To be daring.’
place on a Manhattan rooftop, the 55-year-old ‘New York wasn’t everything I thought it would attack: Madonna has revealed she was raped at times.’ The music icon recalls how she coped