Nathan Evans’ take on the sea shanty ‘Wellerman’ reaches Number 1 in the UK charts this week.
Announcing the news on Instagram, Evan’s wrote: “Wellerman is a UK NUMBER 1! I still don’t believe it….Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of yous that bought the single and listened to it. This is just the start!! #WellermanForNumberOne.”
Evans initially released his version of the sea shanty last year via the platform TikTok, and it immediately became an internet sensation. Releasing a video on Instagram earlier this year, he expressed his astonishment having gone from a postman to signing a record deal with a major label in a matter of months.
The sea shanty track, remixed with 220 Kid and Billen Ted, has been in the top three for the past seven weeks, finally reaching the number one spot this week. Speaking to Officialcharts.com, 220 Kid, who remixed ‘Wellerman’ along with Billen Ted, said: “Official Number 1 single – I can’t believe it! It’s a dream come true. No matter how much goes wrong, or how many obstacles you reach, as long as you overcome them, you will eventually get there. The support on this record has been unbelievable. It’s really been magical. Thank you so much.”
Last week the sea shanty artist performed his rendition of ‘Wellerman’ on the hit TV show Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night takeaway. Closing the show, Ant and Dec joined Evan’s on stage, dressed in nautical outfits and also accompanied by legendary Queen guitarist Brian May.
‘Wellerman,’ a 19th Century sea shanty originating from New Zealand, and is about a whaling crew waiting for ‘sugar, tea and rum’ to arrive from Australia. Sea shanty’s traditionally accompanied rhythmical labour aboard British and European large merchant ships. Speaking to Rolling Stone, the Scotsman expressed how sea shanties were influential when he was growing up.
Born in Airdrie, Scotland, Evans started his TikToks covering songs by well-known UK artists such as Lewis Capaldi and Ed Sheeran. Asking his followers for suggestions about which songs to cover, the sea shanty ‘what shall we do with the drunken sailor,’ was suggested. The cover version of ‘Wellerman’ took off and became a sensation, with others on the platform uploading their own renditions, including UK artist Gary Barlow.
Announcing his debut tour last month, the ‘Wellerman’ star will be touring across the UK in late 2021 and in Europe in early 2022.
Other songs in this week’s UK singles charts Top Five include: ‘Latest Trends’ by A1 & J1, ‘Patience’ by KSI featuring Yungblood & Polo G, ‘The Business’ by Tiesto, and ‘Friday’ by Riton/NightCrawlers/Mufasa.
‘Wellerman is available to listen to on Spotify and Apple Music. You can also view the music video for Wellerman’ on Youtube:
