Nandi Bushell facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Nandi Bushell
Bushell in 2022
Background information
Birth name	Nandi Lily Bushell
Born	(2010-04-28) 28 April 2010 (age 15) Durban, South Africa
Origin	Ipswich, Suffolk, England
Genres	Rock
Instruments	Drums guitar bass guitar piano saxophone vocals
Years active	2018–present
YouTube information
Subscribers	445 thousand (16 February 2023)
Total views	67.4 million (16 February 2023)

Nandi Lily Bushell (born 28 April 2010) is a super talented musician, singer, and songwriter. She was born in South Africa and grew up in Britain. Nandi became famous for her amazing drumming videos on YouTube and Instagram.

In 2020, she had an exciting online drum battle with rock star Dave Grohl. This battle became very popular around the world. By the time she was ten, many famous musicians noticed her videos. These included Dave Grohl, Lenny Kravitz, and Questlove. Her talent also led to many appearances on TV shows.

Nandi Bushell was the youngest artist ever to be on the cover of Modern Drummer magazine. She is also the first musician-in-residence for Cartoon Network. She has performed with Lenny Kravitz and even played drums with Dave Grohl's band, Foo Fighters, at a concert. She was also a special guest at the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II in London.

Nandi started writing and recording her own music when she was ten. She plays all the instruments on her songs. Three of her songs were released as singles before her first EP, Into the Abyss, which came out in 2023. Her first single, "The Shadows", was released in September 2022.

Early Life and Music Journey

Nandi Bushell was born in Durban, South Africa. Her mother, Lungile, is from KwaZulu-Natal, and her father, John, is British. When Nandi was two years old, her family moved to Ipswich, Suffolk, in England. Nandi says she is both "British and Zulu".

Nandi's parents are not musicians, but her dad played in bands when he was in college. One day, her father showed his children a video of The Beatles' song "Hey Jude". Nandi was amazed by Ringo Starr's drumming and wanted to play the drums herself.

Her parents bought her first drum kit as a reward for doing well in school. Her dad played guitar with her and saw that five-year-old Nandi was very good at keeping a beat. When she was six, Nandi started taking drum lessons. She said the first week was hard, but then she "just got it."

With her dad's help, Nandi started posting videos of herself covering songs on social media. Her dad even made a music video with an alien theme for her drumming to "Toxicity" by System of a Down when she was seven. She also played with adult musicians at jam sessions in a local pub as part of the Ipswich Rock Project.

Nandi's Amazing Career

Viral Videos and Drum Battle

How Nandi Became Famous (2018–2021)

Nandi's drumming videos on social media quickly caught the eye of famous musicians. Many of them sent her gifts! After Questlove saw one of her Instagram videos, he sent her a special drum kit made just for kids. Her cover of "Use Me" got the attention of Anderson .Paak.

Lenny Kravitz even invited Nandi to meet him and play with him during a sound check in June 2019. Later, Kravitz and drummer Nate Smith sent Nandi another custom drum kit. In July 2019, she met Questlove at a festival in London. When Muse's Matt Bellamy saw her video playing many instruments for "Plug In Baby", he gave her one of his special guitars.

In November 2019, Nandi's drum cover of Nirvana's "In Bloom" became super popular. It got over 10 million views on Twitter in just one week! Dave Grohl, who was the drummer on Nirvana's album Nevermind, heard about the video. He was amazed by her "joy and energy."

In August 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Nandi uploaded a video covering "Everlong" by Foo Fighters. She challenged Dave Grohl to a drum battle, calling him her favorite drummer. Grohl thought it was "adorable," but his friends kept telling him he had to respond. So, Grohl played drums to "Dead End Friends" by his band Them Crooked Vultures to challenge Nandi back.

Nandi then posted a video drumming to the same song, and Grohl said she won! He even wrote and recorded a song just for her. This online drum battle was talked about all over the world and got millions of views. Nandi's social media grew a lot: in six months, she had over 800,000 followers on Instagram and 250,000 on YouTube.

Dave Grohl said their drum battle was why he decided to release the Foo Fighters album Medicine at Midnight in February 2021. He hoped their music would make people feel as much joy as his drum battle with Nandi.

Playing with Foo Fighters

In November 2020, Dave Grohl invited Nandi to perform with him and Foo Fighters on stage when they could tour again. They met in person for the first time on 26 August 2021, at The Forum in California. Grohl introduced his "arch nemesis" on drums to play "Everlong" and end the sold-out show.

Reviewers said Nandi was "absolutely shredding" and sounded like she had been touring with the band for years. It was called "epic" and "flawless." Nandi's amazing performance made "Everlong" return to the music charts in September. The 1997 song also appeared on Billboard's rock charts, which didn't even exist when it first came out.

Nandi's Music and Performances (2021–Present)

Nandi Bushell (right) joins Dave Grohl (left) and Foo Fighters for the Taylor Hawkins tribute concert at Wembley Stadium in September 2022.

In October 2021, Nandi and Roman Morello wrote and performed "The Children Will Rise Up." This song warned about the dangers of climate change. The music video featured Roman's father Tom Morello, along with Jack Black and Greta Thunberg.

Besides drums, Nandi also plays lead guitar, bass guitar, and piano. Her videos show her playing all parts of rock songs using video tricks and a loop station. She also plays the saxophone, like in her covers of songs by Bill Withers and John Coltrane.

Nandi has written and recorded an EP called Into the Abyss, where she plays all the instruments. Its first single, "The Shadows," was released on 30 September 2022. Nandi said the song is "quite dark" and she wrote it to help her father and others dealing with sadness. Music magazines called the song "incredibly moving and mature" and praised her unique style.

In 2022, Nandi performed live at the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II in June. She was part of both the Platinum Party at the Palace and the Platinum Jubilee Pageant. In September, Nandi was one of many artists invited to join Foo Fighters on stage for the Taylor Hawkins tribute concert at Wembley Stadium. She played "Learn to Fly" using drumsticks that Taylor Hawkins had given her the year before.

Dave Grohl introduced her as "our friend, the coolest drumming person in the world." He added that she was "the biggest rock star on the bill." Nandi said it was amazing but also sad to play at Wembley under those circumstances.

Nandi released another original song, "Sweet Nightmares," in October 2023. It was produced with help from Carl Restivo. The song sounds like Slipknot, who Nandi calls "her favorite band." The song even features Josh Brolin on some backing vocals.

In March 2025, Nandi announced she started a band called Blu Reflection with two friends. Their first single, “The Only One,” was released that same month.

Television Appearances

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Nandi Bushell and Omar Abidi (left to right) perform in "The Book of Dreams" advert for Argos (Christmas 2019).

In 2018, Nandi was one of four young musicians who recorded "Bohemian Rhapsody" for a John Lewis & Partners advertisement. She had to audition three times to get the part.

In November 2019, Nandi played a young girl drumming to "Don't You (Forget About Me)" in a Christmas advertisement for Argos. She acted alongside drummer Omar Abidi, who played her father. The people making the ad said casting Nandi was "really stressful" but that she was the "obvious choice" out of over 100 children. They said she was "upbeat, fun and celebrating the excitement of dream fulfillment at Christmas."

Argos also featured Nandi in their 2020 campaign, "Drum From Home." These adverts encouraged people to make their own drum kits during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Other TV Shows

In December 2019, Nandi made her first trip to the United States to be a guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Nandi told Ellen she wanted to learn bass guitar, and Ellen gave her one as a gift!

When she was nine, Nandi appeared on the Scandinavian chat show Skavlan in 2020. During the interview, singer Dua Lipa invited her to go on tour.

Nandi and her brother Thomas appeared as cartoon versions of themselves in an episode of Teen Titans Go! called "Jump City Rock." It first aired on 12 September 2022.

Nandi plays a character named Emerald in the third season of Andy and the Band on CBeebies. She is the Goddaughter of the Godfather of Rock, Brian May. She helps the band save Planet Rock by pretending to be their new manager to help them win the Battle of the Bands.

Film Roles

Director Kay Cannon cast Nandi as a drummer girl in the 2021 American film Cinderella. Nandi has since become friends with Kay Cannon and co-star Camila Cabello.

Awards and Recognition

Cartoon Network named Nandi Bushell their first official musician-in-residence in February 2021. She was on the cover of the June 2021 issue of Modern Drummer, becoming the youngest cover artist for the magazine. Hit Like a Girl also named Nandi one of its ambassador heroes for 2021.

In February 2022, Drumeo gave her their first Tony Williams award. This was for her "infectious energy and passion" that inspires people to love drumming and music. She won after an online vote.

On 7 October 2022, Nandi was given the Gold badge on the show Blue Peter. This was for her musical achievements and for "raising awareness about inequality." The Gold badge is the highest honor the show gives. Past winners include Ed Sheeran, Madonna, and Queen Elizabeth II.

Readers of MusicRadar voted Nandi #2 in December 2022 for their list of "best online drum personalities." This was her third year in a row in that spot.

Nandi is also featured in the book Rebel Girls Rock. This book is part of the Rebel Girls series and tells the stories of 24 amazing women musicians. It was released in March 2023, around International Women's Day.

Personal Life and Helping Others

Nandi lives with her parents and her younger brother Thomas in Ipswich. She has been involved in many local and international projects to help people. This includes the yearly fireworks display at Christchurch Park, which raises money for Scouting and other groups.

In October 2021, Nandi was one of many drummers and musicians invited by Ringo Starr to perform a cover of The Beatles' "Come Together" for the WhyHunger project. Her climate song "The Children Will Rise Up!" with Roman Morello was praised by Lenny Kravitz and Simon Pegg. Barack Obama also praised their "compelling message" from the COP26 summit.

Also in October, she took part in "Redraw Your World" for Cartoon Network. She also made a video for their "Stop Bullying: Speak Up" campaign. She plays "live drums" in the Netflix COVID-19 documentary Convergence: Courage in a Crisis.

Music Nandi Has Released

Singles

• "Rock and Grohl – The EPIC Battle" (2020)
• "Gods and Unicorns" (2020)
• "The Children Will Rise Up!" (2021)
• "The Shadows" (2022)
• "Sweet Nightmares" (2023)
• “The Only One” (2025)

Albums

• Into the Abyss (2023)

Soundtracks

• Convergence (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2021; featured performer on "I Am Here and I Am Breathing")

Nandi on Screen