Demi Lovato says 'Father' is about her 'abusive' dad

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 21 (UPI) -- Demi Lovato's new song "Father" is about her late dad, Patrick Lovato.

The 23-year-old singer revealed as much in a video about her album Confident posted Monday. Lovato said the track was inspired by her "abusive" relationship with her father, who died of cancer at age 54 in June 2013.

"I was very conflicted when he passed because he was abusive," she said. "He was mean, but he wanted to be a good person. He wanted to have his family."

"He wasn't capable of raising a family because of his mental illness," she shared. "To know that it wasn't fully his fault really was saddening to me. I wanted to write about it. I wanted to process it."

Lovato had been estranged from her dad for years at the time of his death. She paid tribute to her father on social media last June, writing, "Can't believe it's already been a year ... My dad suffered from severe mental illness so at least there's peace in knowing he's not suffering anymore."

Lovato released Confident on Oct. 16, which includes the singles "Cool for the Summer" and "Confident." The singer debuted her music video for the title track this month, which was directed by Robert Rodriguez and features Michelle Rodriguez.