Summarize and humanize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in EnglishPop star Duffy who disappeared from public life after an horrific kidnap and rape ordeal has been dealt a new blow – the death of her mother, MailOnline has learned.The once chart-topping singer delighted fans last week when she was seen for the first time in 10 years ahead of the release of a promised new version of her iconic 2008 hit Mercy.But MailOnline can reveal the reclusive Welsh performer’s life has once again been hit by tragedy following the sudden death of her mother Joyce aged 69.Duffy, 40, had become estranged from her family as she was plunged into years of misery and self-imposed isolation following her nightmare at the hands of her tormentor.But it’s understood she had been attempting to rebuild relationships with loved ones including her mother when she died unexpectedly after suffering a stomach ulcer.Relatives told how Duffy had been in regular telephone contact with her mother before her death.The pair had not seen each other in person for a number of years – since before the Covid lockdown in early 2020.It was around that time that Duffy posted a harrowing 3,649-word account on her website about the horrific ordeal she had endured and the devastating impact it had on her life. Popstar Duffy’s mother Joyce has died unexpectedly after suffering a stomach ulcer aged 69 (pictured in 2009) Duffy was seen for the first time since she retreated from the limelight in a new TikTok clip last weekShe told how she was raped, drugged and held captive for weeks after being targeted in a restaurant as she was celebrating her birthday.Duffy revealed how she was drugged and held in her home for four weeks before she was put on a plane and taken to a foreign country where she was raped in a hotel room.She said she feared she would be ‘disposed of’ before escaping her captor’s clutches.The singer, whose real name is Aimee Ann Duffy, told how the mental torment she suffered and fears that her attacker would hunt her down led to her spending ‘almost 10 years completely alone’.Describing the impact the ordeal had on her relationship with her loved ones she said: ‘The toll of me hiding, this last decade, also meant I was estranged from all.‘What happened was not only a betrayal to me, to my life, a violence that nearly killed me, it stole a lot from other people too.’As she attempted to get her life back on track, Duffy remained close to her two sisters – Katy, who is her twin, and Kelly aged 44.Relatives told MailOnline she had made ‘a nice little life for herself’ through the millions she made during her brilliant but short-lived career. Relatives told how Duffy had been in regular telephone contact with her mother before her death after becoming estranged due to her self-imposed isolation following her nightmare at the hands of her tormentor The singer disappeared from the public eye 10 years ago after she was drugged, abducted and raped during a horrific ordeal after finding fame as a young woman She was said to be settling into a quiet existence after moving into a £2.5 million home in leafy Surrey while Katy and Kelly were nearby in London.But the healing process remained ongoing as she rarely returned to her home country where she grew up as a Welsh speaker.Joyce, meanwhile, lived with third husband Philip Smith, 71, in a modest bungalow in the village of Letterston, Pembrokeshire – a five hour drive from the singer.Joyce, who ran a paint supply company with her husband, fell ill in late 2022.She spent that Christmas in Withybush Hospital in Haverfordwest, where she continued to be treated into the new year.Speaking of the pop star before his wife’s death he told MailOnline: ‘She didn’t visit but they were in touch on the phone every day.‘We haven’t seen her for about three years, before Covid, but we are in touch and she’s fine.‘We speak to her almost every day, especially with her mum being in hospital.’ Duffy had not seen her mother in person for a number of years – since before the Covid lockdown in early 2020He said of Duffy’s relationship with her sisters: ‘The three of them are in London so they see a lot of each other.’While complications from stomach ulcers are rare, Joyce tragically died unexpectedly two months later in March 2023.Mr Smith declined to comment about the tragedy.The revelation comes after Duffy appeared in a new social media video singing along to the song which launched her on the road to fame and fortune.It was posted on DJ and producer Emotion’s TikTok account which announced that the ‘UK Garage remix’ would be released soon.It marked the first time Duffy had been seen publicly since she appeared in the 2015 crime thriller film Legend.Duffy played the role of American singer Timi Yuro in the biopic starring Tom Hardy which followed the lives of notorious 1960’s gangsters Ronnie and Reggie Kray.She also contributed three songs to the soundtrack which were her first recordings since 2010. Duffy’s mother, Joyce, spent that Christmas in Withybush Hospital in Haverfordwest, where she continued to be treated into the new year (Duffy pictured in 2007)Duffy enjoyed a meteoric rise after hitting the top of the charts in 12 countries with Mercy, which she wrote herself.It was her first release and her debut album Rockferry went on to become the biggest selling record of the year.The singer – who also had a top three hit with Warwick Avenue – went from playing intimate gigs in front of 200 people to selling millions of records.Her powerful soulful voice and Motown-style arrangements saw her eclipse Adele and Amy Winehouse to become Britain’s most popular female star.She won three Brit Awards and a Grammy, but she virtually vanished without a trace after releasing her second album in 2010.It was 10 years later that she revealed details of her ordeal which led to her retreating from the spotlight.She said: ‘Rape is like living murder, you are alive, but dead.‘All I can say is it took an extremely long time, sometimes feeling never ending, to reclaim the shattered pieces of me.’ Posting on Instagram in 202 Duffy said: ‘You can only imagine the amount of times I thought about writing this. The way I would write it, how I would feel thereafter’She told how after returning to the UK following her abduction her life was in danger because the accused man, who has never been identified, had made threats to kill her.Duffy was too terrified to go to the authorities, for fear her attacker would find her.In the end she reported the incident to the police twice, she said, after someone threatened to blackmail her by revealing details of the attack – and when three intruders broke into her home.Duffy said she was so traumatised by her ordeal she considered changing her name and appearance and disappearing altogether to live in another country.She told how her isolation became ‘a form of torture’ saying: ‘In the aftermath I would not see someone, a physical soul, for sometimes weeks and weeks and weeks at a time, remaining alone.‘I would take off my pyjamas and throw them in the fire and put on another set. My hair would get so knotted from not brushing it, as I grieved, I cut it all off.’Duffy said she ‘grieved silently’ living in different townhouses and apartments before finally finding a place where she ‘felt safe’.The singer wrote: ‘I moved five times in the immediate three years after, never feeling safe from the rapist, I was on the run for so long.’ While Duffy remained close to her two sisters who live in London, she did not return often to her homeland WalesDuffy revealed one of the reasons she decided to speak out was to end the ‘what happened to Duffy’ questions after she had all but vanished off the face of the earth.She said: ‘Now you know… and I am free.’Duffy, it appears, had an unconventional childhood which at one point saw her family caught up in a bizarre murder plot.Born in Bangor on June 23 1984, she was brought up in the tiny coastal village of Nefyn, North Wales.Joyce met Duffy’s father John, her second husband, after she began working as a waitress in the hotel he managed in the resort.But the couple split when Duffy was nine and shortly after Joyce rekindled her relationship with childhood sweetheart Mr Smith.Joyce moved with her three children to Letterstone – 140 miles away – to set up home with Mr Smith and his four children.He had won custody of his children after an acrimonious divorce from first wife Dawn following 18-years of marriage. Duffy won three Brit Awards and a Grammy, but she virtually vanished without a trace after releasing her second album in 2010Joyce wed Mr Smith in 1996 but the family’s lives were thrown into turmoil the following year after Dawn hired a hitman to kill her former husband.At one point the family were placed in a safe house for their own protectionAged 15, Duffy ran away and went to live with her father – which led to her mother and her sisters not speaking to her for a year afterwards.Duffy once told how she regretted hurting her mother saying: ’It was a horrendous thing to do. Me, my two sisters and my mum had stuck together through thick and thin, and when I left it was like I was saying, “F*** you.’But I just had to do something because it was killing me living there.’It was during this time that Duffy first honed her singing skills while she helped out at the social club her father managed.She spent hours singing on a karaoke machine, making tapes and posting them to record companies in the hope she would be discovered.Duffy took her first steps to fame in 2003 by appearing on S4C’s Wawffactor – the Welsh channel’s answer to X factor.She finished runner up in the contest and went on to record a three-song Welsh-language EP.After dropping out of university, Duffy was working in a clothing store when she got her lucky break after a chance meeting with two former musicians.They introduced her to Jeanette Lee and Geoff Travis, who founded Rough Trade Records,The couple arranged for Duffy to link up with former Suede guitarist Bernard Butler – they began writing songs together and Butler helped shape her trademark retro sound.
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