# Wellerman ShantyTok

> Nathan Evans's TikTok of the sea shanty Wellerman led to a UK No. 1 single.

- Owner: Nathan Evans
- Kind: Music
- Sector: Entertainment
- Seed date: 2020-12-27
- Peak date: 2021-01-12
- Spread Score: 46 (Notable, provisional), v1.2
- Mechanics: Response chain, Press loop, Platform jump

## Summary

Nathan Evans posted Wellerman on TikTok on Dec. 27, 2020. Users duetted it with new vocal parts and instruments, it reached Twitter by Jan. 1, and sea shanty searches hit a Google record on Jan. 12. It reached No. 3 in the UK in January and No. 1 in March.

## Timeline

- 2020-12-27 — Nathan Evans (@nathanevanss) (TikTok) — Evans uploaded a black-and-white video of himself performing the 19th-century tune Wellerman.
- Week of Dec 27, 2020 — Luke Taylor (TikTok) — TikTok user Luke Taylor made an early duet of Evans's Wellerman in December 2020.
- 2021-01-01 — Elizabeth Kingston (X) — Elizabeth Kingston tweeted about it, calling sea shanty TikTok a good omen for 2021.

The full timeline, metrics and sources are on the case page, or via the Pro API (https://howitspread.com/developers).

Canonical URL: https://howitspread.com/cases/wellerman-shantytok

Cite as: How It Spread (2026). “Wellerman ShantyTok.” Case HIS-00996. Spread Score v1.2: 46/100. Updated 2026-10-17. https://howitspread.com/id/HIS-00996