Mumford & Sons’ Marcus Mumford Shares He Was Sexually Abused at 6

Marcus Mumford is using music to heal from a childhood trauma.

After keeping silent for almost three decades, Mumford & Sons‘ frontman is sharing his experience as a victim of child sexual abuse in “Cannibal,” the first single from his debut solo album Self-Titled.

“Like lots of people—and I’m learning more and more about this as we go and as I play it to people—I was sexually abused as a child,” Mumford told GQ magazine in an interview published Aug. 10. “Not by family and not in the church, which might be some people’s assumption. But I hadn’t told anyone about it for 30 years.”

Mumford, 35, said he told his mother about the abuse only after she heard “Cannibal” and asked him what the song was about. “So once we get through the trauma of that moment for her, as a mother, hearing that and her wanting to protect and help and all that stuff,” he continued, “it’s objectively f–king hilarious to tell your mom about your abuse in a f–king song, of all things.”