Dave Grohl on Why Nandi Bushell is ‘The True Meaning of Rock & Roll’

Dave Grohl had a playful drum battle with viral child rockstar Nandi Bushell during the pandemic that culminated in her joining the Foo Fighters on stage in August at The Forum in Los Angeles.

Grohl thinks very highly of the 11-year-old multi-instrumentalist and said in a new interview with Rolling Stone, "If you want to see the true meaning of rock & roll, watch Nandi play the drums. That is as inspiring as any Beatles record, any Zeppelin record, any AC/DC record, any Stones record."

Grohl added, "To watch her play the drums and see her passion and belief in this music … if that doesn’t inspire you, I don’t know what will. So, the fact that we got to share a moment with her onstage makes all of this worthwhile. And the funniest thing is, after jamming with Nandi, 'Everlong' went back on the charts."

The Foo Fighters frontman is very optimistic about the future of rock and said, "There’s so many f---ing great bands out there that hopefully will start getting more attention, because I think the dial is starting to turn back to guitar-based music. And to me, it’s really exciting. My love of music is really diverse — I like everything from jazz to K-pop. I’m down; I’m into it. But when I see the younger artists picking up guitars and turning them up, it shines a little light inside of me. It makes me feel happy."

Grohl will be picking up his guitar and heading out on stage with the Foo Fighters this Friday (October 22) at the Shaky Knees Festival in Atlanta. The following weekend on October 30, the band will be in Cleveland to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2021. As previously reported, Paul McCartney will be doing the honors of inducting the band.