Usher intends to learn from his father's mistakes in order to be a better dad to his son.

The Confessions star admits he was too busy to sit down and talk to the man he always thought had deserted him as a child, but now regrets not spending more time with his estranged  father before he died.

He says, “Instead of being there when he was sick, I was working. There was no amount of money that could have fixed my father's health, but I could have just spent that time with him.”

Now a father himself, Usher accepts there were reasons why his own dad couldn't be around for him when he was younger.

He adds, “I forgave him for anything he'd ever done to hurt me unintentionally... It was very difficult for him to be in the situation he was in and be the example he wanted me to follow so he intentionally stayed away. “He was kept away from me too. He didn't like it, but he didn't fight it because he knew he wasn't living right.”

Usher explains, “He asked me to forgive him for not being there. He let me know that he never stopped praying for me. This compelled me to write a song to my son.”

And his father's mistakes will make Usher a better dad: “I'm gonna be the father that my dad wished he was to me.”

His fathers last words inspired Usher to write a song for his son, Prayer For You on his latest album Here I Stand.