13-Year-Old Drumming Sensation Nandi Bushell Teams Up with Josh Brolin to Create Epic Musical Thrills!

On this particularly eerie Friday the 13th, Nandi Bushell and Josh Brolin added an extra touch of spookiness.

The 13-year-old drumming prodigy, vlogger, and close friend of Dave Grohl, Bushell, marked the superstitious occasion by releasing an original song perfectly timed for Halloween called "Sweet Nightmares." In this track, she showcases her passion for metal while incorporating captivating hip-hop-inspired vocals that reveal her surprisingly astute political perspective as a young girl. Singing, "It's a cautionary tale / Will history triumph / When dishonest leaders betrays their principles," she leaves us with a thought-provoking message. "They're rotten to the core / Just let me be / Observing them idly, these remorseful scavengers."

In the black-and-white video that accompanies it, Bushell, who is heavily dressed in gothic attire, showcases her musical talent by playing all the instruments. Accompanying her is an unidentified individual wearing a plague doctor mask who follows her closely. Throughout the video, there are also a few close-up shots of Brolin, aged 55, whose eyes turn black like Bushell's whenever they utter the word "Run" during the chorus.

Towards the end of the song, it becomes somewhat evident whom Bushell is urging to run. She passionately sings, "One set of rules for them / Another set for us / The abuse of their power has reached its limit," implying her message. "These four walls feel suffocating / Overwhelmed by panic, I yearn for liberation."

“The lyrics were mostly influenced by the nightmares I experienced during that period,” Bushell revealed during a conversation with Spin regarding the song. “So, when I say ‘Say goodbye like you mean it and don’t you ever look back,’ I'm referring to the monster in my nightmares. I want to emphasize the importance of bidding farewell genuinely in that particular situation because it's the final encounter with the monster. Also, ‘Don’t you ever look back' signifies their eternal escape, so it's imperative not to reminisce. Furthermore, certain lyrics like ‘Empires of a sin’ caught my attention as they possessed a chilling and captivating essence."

Bushell also informed Spin that Brolin was involved in the creation of the track through the introduction of their common friend, photographer Brian Bowen Smith. According to Bushell, Smith believed that Brolin's voice would be an ideal fit for the song due to its intimidating and profoundly deep qualities. She further mentioned that Brolin expressed great support for the song and also had a positive response to the accompanying music video.

In recent times, Brolin has been spotted in Outer Range, an Amazon Prime series that delves into "a perplexing enigma on the outskirts of Wyoming's wilderness." Additionally, the acclaimed actor will grace the screen once again in Dune: Part Two, where he will reprise the role of Gurney Halleck in this grand sci-fi spectacle.

Bushell started sharing drumming videos in the late 2010s. Her breakthrough came in 2019 with a viral video of her performing Nirvana's "In Bloom." The video caught the attention of Dave Grohl, who was impressed by her talent. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, she challenged Grohl to a drum battle by uploading a video of herself covering Foo Fighters' "Everlong."

In response, Grohl challenged her to play "Dead End Friends" by his band Them Crooked Vultures. He later admitted on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that she completely outperformed him. Grohl graciously accepted defeat, and in 2021, Bushell had the opportunity to join him and the rest of the Foo Fighters on stage in California, where they performed "Everlong" in front of a huge audience.

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Josh Brolin