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Nandi Bushell

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Nandi Bushell

Nandi Lily Bushell (/ˈnænd ˈbʊʃəl/ NAN-dee BUSH-əl; born 28 April 2010) is a South African-born British musician, singer, songwriter, and social media personality. She became known for her drumming skills by posting cover versions of popular rock songs to her YouTube and Instagram accounts, and her online drum battle with Dave Grohl received international coverage in 2020. By age ten, Bushell's videos had earned the attention of musicians including Grohl, Lenny Kravitz, Anderson .Paak, and Questlove, and led to numerous television appearances.

Bushell was the youngest artist featured on the cover of Modern Drummer magazine and is the first-ever musician-in-residence at Cartoon Network. She has performed with Kravitz and in concert with Grohl's band Foo Fighters, and was a featured guest at the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II in London.

Bushell has been writing and recording her own music since age ten. Three of those songs, in which she performs all parts, were offered as singles ahead of her first EP, Into the Abyss, set for 2023. Its first single, "The Shadows", was released in September 2022.

Bushell was born in Durban; her mother Lungile is from KwaZulu-Natal, whilst her father John is British. Her family moved from Durban to Ipswich, Suffolk, when she was two. Bushell describes herself as "British and Zulu".

I was better than my dad in, like, two weeks.

I was extremely happy that Nandi was so good. But, at the same time, I was feeling quite inferior ... to a five-year-old.

Her parents are not musicians, though her father played in bands during his university years. When John showed his children a video for The Beatles' "Hey Jude", Bushell was fascinated by Ringo Starr's performance and showed an interest in playing the drums. Her parents bought her first drum kit as a reward for good grades at school; whilst accompanying his daughter on guitar, he saw that his five-year-old daughter had strong skills at keeping a beat. At age six, Bushell began taking lessons with a local drum teacher; her first week was "really hard, but then I just got it." With her dad's help, Bushell began posting to social media her covers of various songs, including a music video he created with an alien theme as seven-year-old Nandi drummed along to "Toxicity" by System of a Down. She also attended jam sessions at a local pub, where she played with adult musicians as part of the Ipswich Rock Project.

Bushell's videos on social media were spotted by established musicians, many of whom offered gifts. After Questlove saw one of her Instagram videos, he sent her a custom child-sized drum kit. Her cover of "Use Me" caught the attention of Anderson .Paak, and Lenny Kravitz invited Bushell to meet and accompany him during a sound check at The O2 Arena whilst on tour in June 2019. Kravitz and drummer Nate Smith later sent Bushell a custom drum kit. In July 2019, she was invited to meet with Questlove at the On Blackheath festival at Blackheath. After her multi-instrument cover of "Plug In Baby" was seen by Muse's Matt Bellamy, he gifted her one of his signature guitars.

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