Nandi Bushell releases debut single written to 'cheer up Dad'

Nandi Bushell, 12, said her dad's health struggles had inspired the lyrics for her new track

A schoolgirl who has performed with some of the world's biggest rock stars has released a new single inspired by her dad's health struggles.

Nandi Bushell, 12, of Ipswich, Suffolk, has bookended this month by drumming at the Foo Fighters' Taylor Hawkins memorial gig and launching her track.

The multi-instrumentalist has also won the attention of Barack Obama and tech giant Apple's CEO Tim Cook.

Nandi said: "I wrote a song to cheer [my dad] up."

Nandi performed at the Foo Fighters tribute to their late drummer Taylor Hawkins, who was one of her role models

The accompanying video to The Shadows, released on 30 September, charts Nandi's journey from toying around with instruments in her former South African home as a toddler to playing guitars and drums with her dad, with current studio footage of her playing a grand piano.

"The single is about how my dad went through depression... because his auto-immune disease was worsening," said Nandi.

"He told me and he was really upset so I made a song about it."

Nandi's father John said it was "incredible" when she started strumming his guitar in perfect time as a toddler

Mr Bushell said he felt Nandi's song had "genuinely helped him" and hoped it would have the same impact on other people.

"I was having flare-ups all over my body and I was feeling really, really terrible," he said.

"Nandi was asking me questions and I was describing how I felt trapped in the bed and in my room, and she said how she wanted to do something to cheer me up. I said all my rainbows felt like they were turning to black.

"She said, 'Let me put these words into the song,' and finished it by saying, 'I'll be there for you'. I thought this is incredible, [it was] such a beautiful moment."

The pair hope the track will reach a wide audience, fuelled in part by Nandi's 2.5m social media followers, a forthcoming appearance on children's TV programme Blue Peter this Monday and her meeting this week with Apple chief Mr Cook.

Her profile has been boosted following a string of extraordinary events including performing with Lenny Kravitz, appearing on US talk show Ellen and writing a song in 2021 with ex-Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello and his son Roman, which former US President Barack Obama posted on his Facebook page.

However, it is her enduring link-up with Foo Fighters that has continued to make headlines after she challenged frontman Dave Grohl to a drum battle during one of the coronavirus lockdowns. It led him to write Nandi a song and he invited her to perform with them at The Forum in Los Angeles last year.

It was there that the band's drummer Taylor Hawkins, who died aged 50 earlier this year, gave the young prodigy his drumsticks.

Nandi said it was "emotional" performing at Wembley at the start of September

Poignantly, Nandi used them during her performance for Learn to Fly at his Wembley Stadium tribute gig.

"There was this balcony where I could see the gig happening - it was emotional," said Nandi.

She said appearing at both gigs, along with playing at the Queen's Platinum Jubilee concert where she cried after meeting her hero Stephen Fry, had been the highlights of her life so far.

• Foo Fighters pick Nandi Bushell to play at Wembley

• Nandi Bushell: Who is she and why has Dave Grohl written her a song?

• Dave Grohl pens song for 10-year-old drummer

Nandi, who started drumming at the age of five, played with US rock star Lenny Kravitz three years ago

But for now her sights are set on her single release and her forthcoming EP, Into The Abyss, released later this year.

"If one person who is going through a difficult time listens to that song and decides to reach out for help, then that is a measure of success," said Mr Bushell.

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