Who is Nandi Bushell? All about the 11-year-old drummer who challenged Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl

Nandi Bushell, the young drummer who gained online recognition with her musical prowess, recently performed in a Foo Fighters concert. The 11-year-old challenged Dave Grohl to a virtual drumming battle last year.

On Thursday, August 26, the youngster ended up sharing the stage with the Foo Fighters frontman during their latest concert at the Forum in Los Angeles. Grohl invited Nandi onstage to perform a rendition of the band’s classic number, Everlong.

He humorously referred to Nandi as his “arch nemesis” and announced:

“We've had the honor to jam with some pretty amazing people over the years. Some Beatles, some [Rolling] Stones, some Pink Floyds. But this one right here takes the cake… This person inspired me last year so much.”

He also dubbed Nandi as the “most bada** drummer in the world” before welcoming her onstage. The crowd began cheering for the drumming prodigy even before she took the stage.

Following the iconic moment, Nandi took to Instagram to share a clip of the performance and thanked Dave Grohl for giving her the opportunity:

"It Happened!!! It was EPIC!!! Tonight I jammed with the @foofighters live @theforum!!! Wow!!! What an INCREDIBLE night! THANK YOU so much @Foo Fighters @davetruestories!... Thank you to everyone who made it possible!!!"

Nandi Bushell has received immense appreciation from Foo Fighters fans and music enthusiasts for her incredible performances onstage. Her commendable delivery resulted in the ideal ending of a great concert.

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Meet young drumming prodigy Nandi Bushell

Nandi Bushell is a 11-year-old drumming prodigy from the UK (Image via Getty Images)

Nandi Bushell was born to parents Lungile and John on 28 April 2010 in Durban, South Africa. She is currently based in Ipswich, UK. Nandi began drumming at the tender of five after receiving a toy drum from her parents.

The musician's parents were quick to understand her potential and helped her post covers on YouTube and other social media platforms. Nandi started gaining immense popularity with her stunning covers of iconic numbers by Nirvana, Pixies and Foo Fighters, among others.

She went viral last year after covering Everlong and challenging Dave Grohl to a battle. The latter soon responded to the challenge, and ultimately faced defeat. Grohl subsequently wrote a song for the young drummer.

Earlier this year, Nandi Bushell told The Rolling Stones that she was left speechless by the gesture:

“A rock legend has been inspired by me. That is amazing. I’m inspired by [Grohl], so the fact that he’s inspired by me… speechless.”

Grohl first noticed the musician after her 2019 cover of Nirvana’s In Bloom, a video that amassed more than 10 million views on Twitter within a week. The rocker told The New York Times at the time:

“I watched it in amazement, not only because she was nailing all of the parts, but the way that she would scream when she did her drum rolls. There's something about seeing the joy and energy of a kid in love with an instrument. She just seemed like a force of nature."

In addition to Grohl, Nandi Bushell has also been noticed by popular musicians like Lenny Kravitz, Questlove, Nate Smith, and Matt Bellamy. Questlove even invited her to meet him at the Blackheath Festival.

She was also invited to The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2019. Earlier this year, the Cartoon Network named her their first “kid-musician-in-residence". Nandi Bushell was featured as a cover artist for the June 2021 issue of Modern Drummer.

She has also garnered a strong fanbase on social media. She currently has over 300K subscribers on YouTube and more than 800K followers on Instagram.

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