Malachi Barton Reveals His Mom Wrote Demi Lovato’s “Nightingale”

Malachi Barton had a special reason to be excited when he saw Demi Lovato on the set of Camp Rock 3.

The young Disney Channel star, who plays new camper Fletch in the upcoming Disney+ movie, revealed that his mother, singer-songwriter Felicia Barton, wrote one of Lovato’s songs.

“It was crazy. It was so wild,” Malachi told Entertainment Weekly. Although he did not have any scenes with Lovato, he remembers seeing her on set and immediately wanting to meet her.

But the reunion became even more meaningful when Malachi’s mother told Lovato that she had written the song “Nightingale.”

The song appeared on Lovato’s 2013 self-titled album. Felicia had written it about Malachi’s father and later pitched it to Lovato. According to Malachi, his mother and Lovato had never spoken about the song before they met on the Camp Rock 3 set.

“My mom was like, ‘Hey, I wrote that song,’” Malachi recalled.

Lovato’s response made the moment especially emotional.

“She was like, ‘No way. … That song got me through a lot,’” Malachi said.

He described the meeting between his mother and Lovato as a “really beautiful moment” and praised the singer for being kind, talented and fun.

For Malachi, the experience was also surreal because he grew up hearing his mother play “Nightingale” in the studio.

“That’s a song I grew up listening to,” he said. “Then I hear Demi Lovato singing it. I’m like, ‘Oh, Mitchie’s going to sing this song!’”

Demi Lovato Returns as Mitchie

Lovato is returning as Mitchie Torres in Camp Rock 3, alongside Kevin, Joe and Nick Jonas, who reprise their roles as Connect 3.

Malachi plays Fletch, one of the new campers competing for the chance to open for Connect 3.

Lovato’s involvement in the movie was officially confirmed on August 10, following months of speculation. Director Veronica Rodriguez said the filmmakers spent considerable time deciding how much Mitchie should appear in the story.

The new film focuses on passing the spotlight to a new generation of campers while still bringing back the original stars.

Rodriguez explained that Mitchie’s role reflects that idea, saying, “This isn’t about me, it’s about them.”

Joe Jonas also said returning to the Camp Rock world felt surprisingly natural. He compared Malachi and Liamani Segura’s new characters to younger versions of Shane and Mitchie.

“As we were looking at the new cast, we could see Mitchie and Shane 2.0 in front of us,” Joe said.

He added that the original cast found themselves laughing because being back together brought back the same chemistry they had years ago.

Camp Rock 3 is now streaming on Disney+.