TikTokNo, you haven’t accidentally started listening to Blackbeard’s playlist, you’ve stumbled upon Sea Shanty TikTok - welcome aboard!
Scottish postman, @nathanevanss’ life changed overnight when he posted a TikTok video of him singing the famous sea shanty The Wellerman. Viewed over nine million times (and counting), he has brought the wonderful tradition of sea shanties to the TikTok community, sparking the first major trend of 2021 on TikTok!
Nathan’s incredible rendition of The Wellerman exploded on the platform, and has even become something of a TikTok challenge.
Using our TikTok duet feature - which lets you record a video alongside another TikTok user - users are layering their harmonies over Nathan’s original video.
Music royalty are also getting involved, including Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber adding his world famous piano skills to the mix...
Canadian rock band Nickelback:
… and Gary Barlow and Ronan Keating putting those boy band harmonies to the test!
You can check out Nathan’s reaction to Sir Andrew’s video here:
It starts on TikTok
Undoubtedly sea shanties have captured the UK and the world’s imagination these last couple of weeks, and we’ve been loving the joy it’s brought to so many.
We love to celebrate our community of amazing creators and the impact they have on cultural moments like this, and Nathan is no different.
So this past weekend we ran a very special TikTok ad campaign during lots of the UK’s biggest TV moments, including live FA Cup games and ITV’s The Masked Singer and The Voice. Nathan stars, as you would expect, but it also features the music royalty mentioned as well as a very unique remix!
We pulled this ad together in a really short space of time, but we love it and the chance to help bring the joy of sea shanties off of TikTok, as well as on it.
Speaking of which, we’ve had a lot of fun on our social media this last week...
So what’s next for the rising young TikTok star
For Nathan Evans, it’s only up from here! His popularity and audience are growing by the day - amassing over 600,000 TikTok followers in just a few weeks
He signed his first record deal with Polydor (part of Universal) this week and his debut track “Wellerman” and “Wellerman 220Kid & Killen Ted Remix” are out now, bringing Sea Shanties to even more fans.
Nathan has truly taken the world by storm, featuring in newspapers, on TV and radio programmes around the globe, including BBC News, CNN and Good Morning America. The Wellerman has entered the top ten in the US iTunes chart, and is currently set for a UK top ten position in the UK this week - quite an achievement for our former postman.
This isn’t the first time that TikTok has had a massive influence on the music industry, from helping Fleetwood Mac’s Dreams re-enter the charts some forty years after being first released, to Old Town Road blowing up the charts, to helping launch the careers of newcomers like the brilliant Cat Burns.
One thing that is for certain is that Nathan Evans has revived the old folklore tradition of sea shanties and brought it to a whole new audience.
And he shows no signs of stopping, with his incredible takes on old classics like Drunken Sailor to creating his own original tracks like The Scotsman also bringing joy to the platform.
So keep your ears out because this TikTok musical star has a very bright future ahead!
For more amazing videos be sure to checkout the #SeaShanty TikTok hashtag. But we’re warning you, these catchy tunes will be stuck in your head all day!
To download the TikTok app and create your own rendition of sea shanty, head to the Apple App Store, Google Play or Amazon today.
