After a year of mutual fangirling, Dave Grohl and 11 year-old drummer wunderkind Nandi Bushell finally united at a Foo Fighters gig at The Forum in Los Angeles where she joined the band on stage for a live performance of ‘Everlong’.
It’s been a monster year for Bushell, who broke out during the pandemic with a successful Youtube channel full of covers. The pint-sized percussionist has covered some of rock’s biggest names – from Metallica, to Joy Division, Blur, Green Day, Arctic Monkeys, you name it and she’s probably covered it.
She and Grohl first came onto each other’s radars when Bushell challenged the Foo Fighters’ frontman to a drum-off, where they exchanged three rounds of challenges.
Grohl alluded to their friendly rivalry during their live show whilst the band’s roadies wheeled out Bushell’s kit on stage.
“One day I pick up my phone and my friends are all texting me like, ‘Have you seen this shit?'” he said to the crowd. “And I click on the link and I look at it and I see it’s someone is challenging me to a drum-off. So I’m like, ‘Well, isn’t that nice?'”
He thought to brush it off, but his friends urged that this was the real deal and that he should respond, and step up to her challenge.
“She whipped my fuckin’ ass in front of the entire planet,” he said.
And after the pair exchanged virtual percussive blows three times, he said that he was excited to finally come face to face with her.
“This person inspired me so much last year so much, and I’ll tell you why,” he said. “Because in a time when you would pick up your phone or turn on the computer and all you had was bad news, for that one day you could pick up your phone and see this connection between two people that have never met making music together and spreading joy and love all across the world.”
As Bushell took to the stage, the crowd began to chant her name: “Nandi! Nandi! Nandi!”
She steps up to the kit like the absolute pro that she is, and flawlessly brings it home.
Watch the extremely wholesome exchange below.
