I’m not gonna lie — I cried real, ugly tears of joy watching her. The future of rock didn’t just arrive — it exploded onto that stage. The drumsticks were bigger than her hands, but her fire, her soul, her talent? Bigger than the universe. She hit harder than the headlines, louder than the crowd — and every beat felt like it was echoing through the bones of rock legends past. No nerves. No fear. Just raw, blistering power wrapped in pigtails and passion. You could see it in the way her eyes locked in, the way her tiny frame shook the kit like she was born behind it. This wasn’t a performance. It was a calling. And somewhere backstage, a thousand jaded musicians just realized: the game has changed. Forever
Nandi Bushell and Dave Grohl finally met in person. The rest is rock & roll history.
Something magical happened on Thursday night. A beautiful, heartwarming relationship that sparked during the worst days of the pandemic so far led to a real-life meet-up and an epic performance in front of thousands of people.
Yup, Dave Grohl finally played with Nandi Bushell.
It started in mid-August of 2020, as a pandemic-weary, pre-vaccine world looked anxiously toward the end of summer and the expected spike in COVID-19 cases the fall season would bring. Then, all of a sudden, people across the internet were captivated by the drumming skills of Bushell, a then-10-year-old girl in England. She absolutely destroyed a version of the Foo Fighters hit “Everlong” in a video, but not before challenging Grohl himself to a “drum-off.”
A couple weeks later, Grohl gamely responded with an on-camera performance of his own, and the drum-off was underway. In the weeks that followed, the two traded increasingly impressively displays of drumming talent. All of us were winners, for getting to witness this beautifully pure and wholesome blossoming of an against-all-odds friendship.
Which brings us to Aug. 26. At a Foo Fighters performance in California, a group of stage techs rolled out a temporary riser adorned with a pint-sized pink drum kit as Grohl addressed the crowd. He talked about 2020 and the unlikely friendship that formed online, across a physical distance spanning thousands of miles. He laid out the whole story of his back-and-forth with Bushell, detailing how she “whoop[ed] my fucking ass” multiple times.
“But of course, this person inspired me last year so much, and I’ll tell you why,” he added. “Because in a time when you would pick up your phone or turn on a computer 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.”
“So ladies and gentlemen, would you please welcome the most badass drummer in the world, my new friend, Nandi.”
Cue the music. A killer performance of “Everlong,” captured above by a fan in the audience. Grohl didn’t dare test his mettle against Bushell, now 11, this time. He just played right along with her as she brought the house down.
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