Singer Kate Vogel Releases New Single After Trauma: ‘I Wanted to Take My Own Life’ (Exclusive)

“I’ve struggled with being suicidal since I was 10 years old,” the singer tells PEOPLE. “I had to choose between writing songs, or not wanting to die”

Nashville singer-songwriter Kate Vogel has navigated deep emotional turmoil and profound loss, experiences that are intricately woven into her new single, “Light at the End of the Tunnel.”

In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, Vogel, 30, shared how the song mirrors her journey from heartbreak and grief to ultimate healing.

As a teenager, Vogel endured sexual assault, abuse, and harassment. “It felt like it never ended. Being sexually assaulted started young, and I felt like it was my fault. I moved around a lot as a kid, and that also makes you a little vulnerable because you don’t have an army of people that will defend you,” she revealed. Vogel began struggling with suicidal thoughts.

In 2016, while studying economics at Vanderbilt University, her best friend Kyra died in a car accident. “She was my best friend, and I found myself in the back of my economics classes, writing songs about her instead of focusing on the material. I was failing the class, but I couldn’t stop writing,” the songwriter recalled.

Three months after Kyra’s passing, Vogel lost another close friend to suicide. “I was at her funeral,” she reflected. “I wanted to take my own life, too.”