30 Facts About Nandi Bushell

Nandi Lily Bushell is a South African-born British musician, singer, songwriter, and social media personality.

Nandi Bushell 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.

Nandi Bushell was the youngest artist featured on the cover of Modern Drummer magazine and is the first-ever musician-in-residence at Cartoon Network.

Nandi Bushell 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.

Nandi Bushell has been writing and recording her own music since age ten.

Nandi Bushell was born in Durban; her mother Lungile is from KwaZulu-Natal, whilst her father John is British.

Nandi Bushell's family moved from Durban to Ipswich, Suffolk, when she was two.

Nandi Bushell's 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", Nandi Bushell was fascinated by Ringo Starr's performance and showed an interest in playing the drums.

Nandi Bushell's 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.

Nandi Bushell attended jam sessions at a local pub, where she played with adult musicians as part of the Ipswich Rock Project.

Nandi Bushell's cover of "Use Me" caught the attention of Anderson.

Paak, and Lenny Kravitz invited Nandi Bushell to meet and accompany him during a sound check at The O2 Arena whilst on tour in June 2019.

Nandi Bushell's drum cover of Nirvana's "In Bloom" went viral in November 2019, gaining over 10 million views via Twitter within a week.

Nandi Bushell subsequently performed an original song inspired by Bushell; she responded by writing and recording a song dedicated to Grohl.

Nandi Bushell plays saxophone, including for her covers of songs by Bill Withers and John Coltrane.

Nandi Bushell has written and recorded an EP, Into the Abyss, and performs all parts; its first single, "The Shadows", was released on 30 September 2022.

The song is "quite dark", and Nandi Bushell said she wrote it to help her father and others going through depression.

Nandi Bushell released another original song, "Sweet Nightmares", in October 2023, which was produced with help from Carl Restivo.

In March 2025, Nandi Bushell announced that she started a band called Blu Reflection with two of her friends.

In November 2019, Nandi Bushell portrayed a young girl performing "Don't You " in an award-winning Christmas advertisement for Argos alongside actor and drummer Omar Abidi as her father.

Argos marketing manager Becky Desert said Nandi Bushell was "the obvious choice" out of more than 100 children, "being upbeat, fun and celebrating the excitement of dream fulfillment at Christmas".

Still age nine, Nandi Bushell appeared on the Scandinavian chat show Skavlan in 2020.

Nandi Bushell plays character Emerald in the third season of Andy and the Band on CBeebies.

Nandi Bushell has since become friends with Cannon and co-star Camila Cabello.

Nandi Bushell was featured on the cover of the June 2021 issue of Modern Drummer, the magazine's youngest cover artist to date.

Nandi Bushell was named the winner following an online poll.

Nandi Bushell is portrayed, along with 24 other woman musicians, in the book Rebel Girls Rock, the latest edition of the Rebel Girls series, released in the week of International Women's Day 2023.

Nandi Bushell has been involved in numerous local and international humanitarian causes including the annual fireworks display at Christchurch Park, which raises funds for Scouting and other organisations.

In October 2021, Nandi Bushell was one of dozens of drummers and other musicians invited by Ringo Starr to perform a cover of The Beatles' "Come Together" for the WhyHunger project.