ABC7

'The Wellerman': 19th Century sea shanty tops charts amid viral TikTok trend

It's folly to examine why some things go viral on the internet, and by doing so one risks discounting the beauty of the simplest answer: They just do. Nothing makes sense. Roll with it. Or at least, ...
Australian Broadcasting Corporation

The Albany Shantymen's The Wellerman tops 1 million Spotify streams after Nathan Evans mention

There were some unusual cultural shifts out of the global COVID-19 pandemic, among them was a spike in popularity of sea shanties. The Albany Shantymen's version of The Wellerman has passed one ...
The Conversation

The viral ‘Wellerman’ sea shanty is also a window into the remarkable cross‑cultural whaling history of Aotearoa New Zealand

In a year of surprises, one of the more pleasant was the recent runaway viral popularity of 19th century sea shanties on TikTok. A collaborative global response to pandemic isolation, it saw singers ...
Billboard

Nathan Evans’ Sea Shanty ‘Wellerman’ Sails Onto Billboard Global Charts

Nathan Evans takes his sea shanty "Wellerman" from Tiktok to the Billboard Global charts. By Eric Frankenberg The Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts launched in September and ...
The Conversation

ShantyTok: is the sugar and rum line in Wellerman a reference to slavery?

Amid the global media coverage of the pandemic and Donald Trump’s final days as US president, an unexpected music genre went viral on TikTok: traditional sea shanties, spurring what has become known ...