Nandi Bushell, Roman Morello and Tom Morello join forces for charity single, The Children Will Rise Up
The song hopes to tackle climate change, with a video featuring Jack Black, Tom Morello and Greta Thunberg
It’s been a huge year or so for Nandi Bushell, going from an unknown drummer to defeating Dave Grohl in a drum battle, having a theme tune written for her by Grohl, joining Foo Fighters on stage, and just this week appearing amongst a 100-strong collective of drummers on a charity cover of The Beatles’ Come Together. Now Nandi has released music of her own, enlisting Tom Morello and his 10-year-old son, Roman to lend a hand.
The Children Will Rise Up is written by Nandi Bushell, Roman Morello and RATM/Audioslave legend/Roman's father, Tom Morello, serving as a call to arms to encourage young people to rise up against global warming.
In collaboration with the Greta Thunberg-started Fridays for Future Brazil and England, proceeds from the song will be donated to Instituto SOS Pantanal, an organisation that works to protect the unique environment of the world’s largest tropical wetlands area in The Pantanal, South America.
The video for the song begins with Jack Black making a cameo, declaring “In the beginning…there was rock!’, before the groove-heavy song kicks-in with Nandi performing double-duty on drums and vocals, while Roman Morello takes care of the guitar. It's clear that Roman is a chip off the old block, too, as Roman drops an impressive solo that sees him borrow a few of his his old man’s licks, as well as his Whammy pedal.
Tom Morello and activist Greta Thunberg also make appearances in the video, which will be given heavy rotation on the Cartoon Network from today, with Nandi featuring as the artist in residence.
“I am not a scientist. I am an 11-year-old girl who understands the simple meaning of science, and while I’m not old enough to vote, I can bring awareness to this problem,” said Bushell in a statement. “I hope this song empowers young people to find their voice and inner superpower to speak out, and if we can all come together in unity and love, we can tackle humanity's biggest challenge before it is too late.”
The Children Will Rise Up is out now.
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I'm a freelance member of the MusicRadar team, specialising in drum news, interviews and reviews. I formerly edited Rhythm and Total Guitar here in the UK and have been playing drums for more than 25 years (my arms are very tired). When I'm not working on the site, I can be found on my electronic kit at home, or gigging and depping in function bands and the odd original project.
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