Marcus Mumford Opens Up About Surviving Traumatic Childhood Experiences

Marcus Mumford is the lead singer of Mumford & Sons, and he also plays a number of instruments with the group, including guitar, drums, and mandolin. Marcus recently opened up about being harassed at a young age.

Marcus Mumford disclosed to GQ magazine in a recent interview that he was sexually abused when he was six years old. The assault and resulting trauma set the backbone of Mumford’s upcoming solo album, “Self-Titled,” as well as its lead single, “Cannibal.” The song got an iPhone-shot music video directed by Steven Spielberg.

That tune includes lyrics such as “I can still taste you and I hate it / That wasn’t a choice in the mind of a child and you knew it.” Mumford ended up telling his own mother about his abuse through the song “Cannibal.”

“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. 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.”

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“She came back: ‘Can I ask what that song’s about?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, it’s about the abuse thing.’ She was like, ‘What are you talking 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, it’s objectively f*cking hilarious to tell your mom about your abuse in a f*cking song, of all things.”

Mumford’s conversation with his mother about his abuse as a child inspired the second track on his solo album, “Grace.” According to the musician, the emotional fallout from his abuse lasted years.

“That thing that happened when I was six, that was the first of a string of really unusual, unhealthy sexual experiences at a really early age. And for some reason, and I can’t really understand why, I didn’t become a perpetrator of sexual abuse—although I’ve done my fair share of c**tish behavior. String of really unhealthy sh*t when I was under the age of 12, which set my brain up in a way to deal with stuff later on in life in an imbalanced way. And so the last three years has just been trying to look at that and correct some balance.”

“Self-titled” is set to be released on September 16th. Obviously, he put a lot into the music for this project. To get the latest updates, keep an eye on Thirsty.

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