Demi Lovato Opens Up About Her Abusive Dad — & The Song He Inspired

Demi Lovato hasn't shied away from talking about her father's psychological issues and struggles with substance abuse, which were sources of constant strain on their relationship. But the singer is being more honest than ever in a new interview about a particularly wrenching track on her latest album, Confident. "Father" is a song that Lovato dedicated to her dad, who passed away in 2013. "I felt conflicted when he passed because he was abusive, he was mean," she explains in a video released on her YouTube channel. "But he wanted to be a good person, he wanted to have his family," she adds. "When my mom married my stepdad, he still had this huge heart, where he would say, 'I'm so glad Eddie's taking care of you, and doing the job that I wish I could do.'" Though it certainly seems as though the singer approached the song with a softened heart, it's clear from the lyrics that she's still grappling with what her father put their family through when she was a child. "Always wished you the best / I pray for your peace / Even if you started this / This whole war in me," she sings in the chorus. Later in the song, she adds that her father leaving in the first place made her who she is today. "He wasn't capable of raising a family," Lovato summarizes toward the end of the emotional clip. "And it was because of his mental illness. To know that it was never fully his fault really was saddening to me." Watch the interview in its entirety below.