Nandi Bushell

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nandi Bushell
Personal information
Born (2010-04-28) 28 April 2010 (age 11)
Durban, South Africa
NationalityBritish
YouTube information
Channel
Years active4
GenreMusic
Subscribers250,000[1]
(February 2021[2])

Nandi Bushell (born 28 April 2010)[3] is a British-Zulu musician and social media celebrity. She is best known for her drumming skill, performing covers of popular rock songs which had drawn the attention of several musicians including Questlove, Lenny Kravitz, Dave Grohl, and Matt Bellamy.

Early life[]

Bushell was born in Durban, South Africa of Zulu descent.[2][4] Her family moved shortly thereafter to Ipswich, United Kingdom, where she currently lives with her parents John and Lungile and her younger brother. Her parents are both avid fans of music, and when she was around the age of five, her father showed her and her brother the video for The Beatles "Hey Jude". Bushell had become fascinated by Ringo Starr's performance on drums from the video. A few weeks later, as a reward for good grades at school, her parents got her her first drum kit. She began to learn how to play the drums alongside John; John saw that she had strong skills at keeping a beat.[5][2][4] About a year later, with help from her parents, she started posting videos of her covers of various songs to YouTube and other social media sites as well as performing with her father at local pubs.[2]

YouTube career[]

Her videos soon drew attention both online and in local media, including for an advertisement for John Lewis & Partners department stores in 2018.[6] Questlove had seen her videos, and impressed with her ability for some tricky rhythm sections, sent her a custom child-sized drumkit as well as circulating her videos to his friends in the music community.[2] Lenny Kravitz had seen Bushell's performances via social media, and at the end of a 2019 tour concluding in England, invited Bushell to meet and perform with him at The O2 Arena in June 2019.[7] Kravitz, along with drummer Nate Smith later gifted Bushell with a custom drum kit in December 2020.[8] Later in 2019, she was invited to meet with Questlove at the On Blackheath festival at Blackheath.[9] By December 2019, she was invited to the United States to be a guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, with DeGeneres presenting her with a bass guitar after learning she was interested in picking up that instrument as well.[10] Later, she performed in a Christmas advertisement for Argos.[11]

One of the songs that Bushell had covered in 2019 was Nirvana's "In Bloom", which she posted in November 2019. The video became a viral hit, gaining over 10 million views via Twitter within a week.[11] The band's drummer, Dave Grohl, learned of the video from his producer Butch Vig, and was impressed with her performance, stating "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."[5] Later in August 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Bushell performed a cover of "Everlong" by the Foo Fighters, another of Grohl's bands, and challenged Grohl to a drum-off, as she considers Grohl her favorite drummer.[5] Grohl responded by his own performance of "Dead End Friends" by Them Crooked Vultures, another of his bands, to return the challenge to Bushell. She, in turn, responded by matching his performance on the same song, after which Grohl conceded defeat to her, and subsequently wrote and performed a song inspired by her.[5] Thrilled at Grohl's song, Bushell also wrote and performed her own song based on her love of Grohl's musical ability.[5] By November 2020, Grohl arranged an online video chat with Bushell, during which he offered for her to perform with him and the Foo Fighters on stage once they were able to tour again in the UK.[12] The virtual drum battle drew millions of views to the sets of videos and furthered Bushell's followers on social media; by February 2021, she had over 800,000 followers on Instagram and 250,000 followers on YouTube.[2] On 26 August 2021, Grohl and Bushell met in person for the first time in Los Angeles, at The Forum, surprising fans by performing with the Foo Fighters, having Bushell on the drums when they played "Everlong" to close out the evening.[13][14]

Since the end of 2020, Bushell had also learned both lead and bass guitar, and through both video synchronization or the use of a loop station, has recorded covers of rock songs with herself performing all parts.[15] After posting a cover of Muse's "Plug In Baby" in which she played lead and bass guitar and drums, Muse's Matt Bellamy sent Bushell one of his signature guitars as appreciation for her covers.[16]

Bushell wants to continue to be a musician and start her own band called the Titans, inspired by the animated show Teen Titans and the meaning of "titans" as "gods". In addition to her covers, she is writing her own songs in hopes to be able to produce an album.[2] Cartoon Network named Bushell their first "kid-musician-in-residence" for the network in February 2021.[17] Bushell was the cover artist of the June 2021 issue of Modern Drummer.[18]

References[]

  1. ^ "About Nandi Bushell". YouTube.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g Doherty, Niall (4 February 2021). "This 10-Year-Old Drummer Stole Dave Grohl's Heart — and Ours, Too". Variety. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  3. ^ Bushell, Nandi (28 April 2021). "It's my birthday!". Instagram.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b Bhengu, Lwandile (1 December 2019). "Little Drummer Girl Goes Big". Sunday Times.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Gordon, Jeremy (9 November 2020). "Dave Grohl, 10-Year-Old Nandi Bushell and One Very Epic Drum Battle". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  6. ^ "Nandi Bushell: Who is she and why has Dave Grohl written her a song?". BBC. 17 September 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  7. ^ Day, Suzanne (18 June 2019). "Nine-year-old Nandi jam with Lenny Kravitz". Ipswich Star. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  8. ^ Nattress, Katrina (13 December 2020). "Lenny Kravitz and Nate Smith Gift Nandi Bushell a Custom Ludwig Legacy Mahogany Drum Kit". Spin. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  9. ^ Lorusso, Marissa (14 November 2019). "Watch This 9-Year-Old Girl Drum Her Heart Out To Nirvana's 'In Bloom'". NPR. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  10. ^ "Ellen DeGeneres gives Ipswich drumming ace, 9, a guitar". BBC. 10 December 2019. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  11. ^ Jump up to: a b Jones, Owen (19 November 2019). "We're not worthy: Meet the incredible 9-year-old social media sensation drumming her way to viral fame". ABC News. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  12. ^ Carras, Christi (10 November 2020). "Dave Grohl finally meets his No. 1 rock hero: 10-year-old drummer Nandi Bushell". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  13. ^ Murray, Kelly (28 August 2021). "Nandi Bushell, 11-year-old drummer, finally joins Foo Fighters on stage". CNN. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
  14. ^ Bushell, Nandi (27 April 2021). "Live Performance Dave Grohl and Nandi Bushell at The Forum LA jamming Everlong with Foo Fighters". YouTube.
  15. ^ Shteamer, Hank (1 March 2021). "Nandi Bushell Lives Out Her Rock & Roll Dreams". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  16. ^ Childers, Chad (31 March 2021). "Muse's Matt Bellamy Gifts Nandi Bushell With Signature Guitar". Loudwire. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  17. ^ Hayes, Dade (17 February 2021). "WarnerMedia Unveils Ambitious Preschool And Kids Blocks On HBO Max, Cartoon Network; Preschool Slate To Reach 50 Originals By 2023". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  18. ^ Molenda, Michael. "Nandi Bushell". Modern Drummer. No. June 2021. Retrieved 16 August 2021.

External links[]

Retrieved from ""