Dave Grohl doesn’t back down from a drum-off, even when he’s challenged by a 10-year-old prodigy. The Foo Fighters frontman answered the call when talented youngster Nandi Bushell threw down the gauntlet to the onetime Nirvana drummer.
Nandi has been getting the attention of prominent rockers with her recent YouTube performances. Her rendition of Rage Against the Machine’s “Guerrilla Radio”, on which she played drums, guitar, and bass, received the seal of approval from Tom Morello. In fact, Morello even shipped her one of his new signature Soul Power Stratocasters, which she then used to rock Audioslave’s “Cochise”. More recently, Kirk Hammett offered her praise for her performance of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman”.
Now, Grohl is going head-to-head with Nandi, who two weeks ago tweeted her drum performance of Foo Fighters’ “Everlong”, with the message, “My dream is to one day jam with Dave Grohl, @taylorhawkins and all the @foofighters! Mr Grohl I would love to have a drum battle with you! I LOVE Everlong it’s really hard to play as it’s so fast but so much FUN!”
On Saturday (August 29th), Grohl responded to Nandi, writing, “Hey @Nandi_Bushell! Challenge accepted. Haven’t played these songs in a loooooong time…..thanks for the inspiration!!! Your move!!! Your friend in rock, Dave (Thanks to my daughter, Harper for letting me borrow her drum set).”
Using his daughter Harper’s drum set, Grohl began by pounding out 30 seconds of “Everlong”, noting he hasn’t played it on drums since recording the track on 1997’s The Colour and the Shape, and explaining that Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins has performed the song ever since. He then addressed Nandi, saying he’s “gotten 100 texts” informing him that she was challenging him to a drum-off.
After telling Nandi that he’s a fan of all her videos, Grohl then rocked “Dead End Friends” by Them Crooked Vultures, his supergroup with Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme and Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones.
“Now the ball’s in your court!” Grohl proclaimed in the video. Expect to hear from Nandi soon enough.
Editors’ Picks
Not that we needed any further evidence, but this month is once again proving why Dave Gohl is one of the coolest dudes in rock. In addition to accepting Nandi’s challenge, he recently made a surprise appearance on a superfan’s nine-hour “Grohl-a-Thon” session on Instagram Live.
See the videos of Dave Grohl and Nandi Bushell taking each other on in the tweets below, followed by Nandi’s full performance of “Everlong” on YouTube.
Hey @Nandi_Bushell!
Challenge accepted.
Haven’t played these songs in a loooooong time…..thanks for the inspiration!!!
Your move!!!
Your friend in rock,
Dave(Thanks to my daughter, Harper for letting me borrow her drum set) pic.twitter.com/Ytq47CcZRC
— Foo Fighters (@foofighters) August 29, 2020
My dream is to one day jam with Dave Grohl, @taylorhawkins and all the @foofighters! Mr Grohl I would love to have a drum battle with you! I LOVE Everlong it’s really hard to play as it’s so fast but so much FUN! #foofighters pic.twitter.com/Pmdhvl57uu
— Nandi Bushell (@Nandi_Bushell) August 17, 2020
