Nandi Bushell: young star releases first single dedicated to her father

The multi-talented musician, 12, recently performed live on stage with Foo Fighters

Nandi Bushell has released her first single, 'The Shadows', dedicated to her father and his recent health struggles. Getty Images

British-Zulu musician Nandi Bushell, who recently performed with Foo Fighters in London for a tribute show to the rock band's late drummer Taylor Hawkins, has released a new single dedicated to her father, John Bushell, also a musician.

Nandi, 12, has received international attention for her musical talents, in particular, her drumming skills. Her fanbase goes beyond the 850,000 followers on Instagram she’s gained, and includes celebrities and rock stars such as Foo Fighters, former US president Barack Obama, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Lenny Kravitz, Arctic Monkeys and Metallica.

Earlier this week, she posted a video on Twitter announcing the coming release of the song, as well as new music.

“Over the last six months, I’ve written and recorded five very personal songs," Nandi says in the video.

"The first song, The Shadows will be released on Friday, the 30th of September. It was written for my dad after he fell into a depression due to his auto-immune disease getting worse. My family and I went through a very hard time and we struggled, but thanks to the song, we were able to move on from the shadows into the light. I can’t wait for you all to hear and see my new art."

The Shadows was released on Friday with an accompanying music video on YouTube.

“It was a difficult time for our family. I wanted to help cheer my dad up by writing a song for him,” Bushell wrote in the description of the music video. “He would describe his feelings to me and I would put them into lyrics letting him know, I would be there for him.”

The music video for the almost five-minute track is a montage of home videos that show Bushell as a toddler and young child playing with musical instruments along with her father. It then cuts to interspersed clips of her on a grand piano, guitar and drums in a professionally lit studio as the tempo builds up to an emotional climax.