Music Viral videos; Dave Grohl drum battle (2018–2021) 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. 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. Her drum cover of
Nirvana's "
In Bloom" went
viral in November 2019, gaining over 10 million views via
Twitter within a week. In August 2020, in the midst of the
COVID-19 pandemic, Bushell uploaded a cover of "
Everlong" by
Foo Fighters, another of Grohl's bands, and challenged him to a drum-off, calling him her favourite drummer. Grohl responded by drumming along with "Dead End Friends" by his
supergroup Them Crooked Vultures to return the challenge to Bushell. After she posted a video drumming to the same song, Grohl conceded defeat. He subsequently performed an original song inspired by Bushell; she responded by writing and recording a song dedicated to Grohl. drew millions of views, and bolstered Bushell's presence on social media: within six months, she had over 800,000 followers on Instagram and 250,000 followers on YouTube. Grohl cited their drum-off as the reason he chose February 2021 to release
Medicine at Midnight, which Foo Fighters had been holding back during the pandemic. "I hope our record can make people feel the same [joy] as my drum battle with Nandi."
Foo Fighters concert During a video chat with Bushell in November 2020, Grohl invited her to perform with him and Foo Fighters on stage once they were able to tour again. They met in person for the first time on 26 August 2021 at
The Forum in California, where Grohl introduced his "arch nemesis" on drums to perform "
Everlong" and close the sold-out show. In her review for
Variety, Jessica Shalvoy wrote that Bushell was "absolutely shredding ... [she] sounded like she'd been touring with Foos for the past 26 years", despite having met in person that same night. Kelli Skye Fadroski of
The Orange County Register called it "epic";
Billboards Gil Kaufman wrote, "the band's ecstatic preteen protégé flawlessly played them home like a pro." Bushell's viral appearance led to the return in September of "Everlong" to the music charts. The 1997 song also made
Billboards
Hot Hard Rock Songs (#2),
Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (#11), and Hot Alternative Songs (#17) lists, none of which existed when it was released.
Musicianship (2021–present) (l) and
Foo Fighters for the
Taylor Hawkins tribute concert at
Wembley Stadium in September 2022. Bushell and Roman Morello wrote and performed the song "The Children Will Rise Up" in October 2021 to warn of the dangers of
climate change. The music video features Roman's father
Tom Morello, along with
Jack Black and
Greta Thunberg. In addition to drums, Bushell plays lead and bass guitar and piano; her videos include covers of rock songs in which she performs all parts using both video synchronization and a
loop station. She also plays saxophone, including for her covers of songs by
Bill Withers and
John Coltrane. 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 Bushell said she wrote it to help her father and others going through depression. Gen Handley of
Spin magazine called the song "incredibly moving and mature"; Matt Owen of
Guitar World wrote that whilst her musical inspirations are present in the "haunting, riff-heavy" song, "it also introduces us to a nuanced Nandi flair, one that showcases her approach to melody and arrangement." Bushell's live appearances in 2022 included the
Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II in June, where she participated in both the
Platinum Party at the Palace and the
Platinum Jubilee Pageant. In September, Bushell was one of dozens of artists invited to join Foo Fighters on stage for the
Taylor Hawkins tribute concert at
Wembley Stadium, where she performed "
Learn to Fly" using drumsticks given to her by Hawkins the year before. Dave Grohl introduced her as "our friend, the coolest fucking drummer in the world" and added, "she's the biggest rock star on the bill. I know we got
Queen and
Rush and all that shit, but we got Nandi tonight." Bushell called it both epic and bittersweet to play Wembley "under very sad circumstances". Bushell released another original song, "Sweet Nightmares", in October 2023, which was produced with help from
Carl Restivo. The song is remininecent of the style of
Slipknot, whom she called "her favorite band". The song features
Josh Brolin on some backing vocals, and who appears thanks to a common friendship with photographer
Brian Bowen Smith. In March 2025, Bushell announced that she started a band called Blu Reflection with two of her friends. The band released their first single titled “The Only One” that same month.
Television Advertising (Christmas 2019). Bushell was one of four young musicians who recorded "
Bohemian Rhapsody" for a
John Lewis & Partners advertisement in 2018. The casting process required that she audition three times. In November 2019, Bushell portrayed a young girl performing "
Don't You (Forget About Me)" in an award-winning Christmas advertisement for
Argos alongside actor and drummer
Omar Abidi as her father. Creative director Danny Hunt said casting the daughter role was "actually really stressful", and he worried that the ad wouldn't work until they saw Bushell. Argos marketing manager Becky Desert said Bushell was "the obvious choice" out of more than 100 children, "being upbeat, fun and celebrating the excitement of dream fulfillment at Christmas". Argos featured Bushell in its 2020 campaign, "Drum From Home". The adverts encouraged viewers to improvise drum kits during the
COVID-19 lockdown.
Other appearances That December, she made her first trip to the United States to be a guest on
The Ellen DeGeneres Show. After Bushell told DeGeneres that she wanted to learn bass guitar, DeGeneres presented one as a gift. Still age nine, Bushell appeared on the Scandinavian chat show
Skavlan in 2020. During the interview,
Dua Lipa invited her to go on tour. Bushell and her brother Thomas appeared as animated versions of themselves in the seventh-season episode of
Teen Titans Go!, "Jump City Rock" which premiered on 12 September 2022. Bushell plays character Emerald in the third season of Andy and the Band on CBeebies. She is the Goddaughter of the Godfather of Rock
Brian May, and assists the band in saving Planet Rock by posing as their new manager to help them win the Battle of the Bands.
Film Director
Kay Cannon cast Bushell as a drummer girl in the 2021 American film
Cinderella after convincing Bushell's father that she would be perfect for the role. She has since become friends with Cannon and co-star
Camila Cabello. ==Accolades==