Dave Grohl agrees to write song with Nandi Bushell

Nandi Bushell and Dave Grohl meet up over a Zoom call
(Image credit: Nandi Bushell/YouTube)

The most heartwarming story of 2020 has just heated up a little more. In a Zoom call facilitated by the New York Times, 10-year-old drumming sensation Nandi Bushell talked to Foo Fighters leader Dave Grohl, and the two have agreed to write a song together.

The unlikely pair have been trading videos since August, when Bushell posted her drum cover of the Foo Fighters’ Everlong and challenged Dave Grohl to a “drum-off”. 

The former Nirvana drummer responded on August 29, posting a video of himself playing along to the song, then laid down a challenge of his own, inviting Bushell to cover Them Crooked Vultures’ Dead End Friends

Bushell did so before Grohl upped the ante with a song written for the Ipswich schoolgirl, The Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll. Not to be outdone, Bushell wrote a song about Grohl, entitled Rock And Grohl.

Now the two have talked online, agreeing to write a song together and for Bushell to appear onstage with The Foos when they're next in The UK. Bushell also urges Grohl to "practice, practice, practice" when he admits that he's given up the drums. You can watch the conversation below.

"Meeting Mr. Grohl was one of the best experiences of my life!," exclaims Nandi. "Dave Grohl is so awesome, kind and friendly! I cant believe he wants to write a song with me and asked me to perform on stage with the Foo Fighters! How epic is that! I cant wait to see what Mr. Grohl is planning next!"

Foo Fighters released a new single Shame Shame at the weekend, after introducing the song during a live performance on US TV show Saturday Night Live. It comes from the band's upcoming Medicine At Midnight album, due for release in February 2021.

"Since it’s our tenth record and 25th anniversary, we decided years ago that we wanted to do something that sounded fresh,” Grohl tells the NME. “We’ve made so many different types of album, we’ve done acoustic things, we’ve done punk-rock things, mid-tempo Americana type of things. 

"We have a lot of albums to fall back on, so you just have to go with our gut feeling and I thought instead of making some mellow adult album, I thought ‘Fuck that, let’s make a party album’." 

Fraser Lewry

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 38 years in music industry, online for 25. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.