New York City’s a tough place for newcomers and pop legend Madonna is no exception. In the November issue of Harper’s Bazaar, Madonna, 55, recounts a traumatic story about her first struggling years in Big Apple when, at 20 years old, she was raped at knifepoint. “New York wasn’t everything I thought it would be,” the singer writes. “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, and 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.” Madonna has previously discussed the attack in a 1995 interview and a 2007 biography, but did not elaborate further in her Harper’s Bazaar essay.