Gavin DeGraw: 'I will not live in fear'

Singer Gavin Degraw refuses to live in fear following his savage street attack in New York last month (Aug11), insisting running into "unsavoury characters" is part of the "risk" of living in such a big city.

The Chariot star was hospitalised with a serious concussion, broken nose and other injuries after a run-in with a trio of thugs, but he's since made a miraculous recovery and is now back on tour.

DeGraw admits the bloody altercation left him shaken, but he was more concerned about facial disfigurement than anything else.

He tells UsMagazine.com, "I have to look at it like this. All the swelling went down, so I look like myself which means I look like my mother. I’m lucky that it went back to that. I still look like the people in my family. Fortunately, I wasn't disfigured, I was just swollen really. It could have been a lot worse. The fact is, to me, this is just really more a bump in the road than anything else..."

And DeGraw is adamant the beating won't deter him from walking home alone in the future.

He adds, "You bump into unsavoury characters, that's the nature of it. New York City has all kinds... I still love New York. I live a very independent lifestyle and New York allows me to do that. I still like living independently and I take full advantage of that and I also take responsibility for that.

"I don't live in fear. The fact is that I have always known the risk of living in a big city and everybody does... It just makes you cautious but not afraid."