Nathan Evans: Scottish postie-turned-TikTok star earns number one spot in UK top charts

A former postie from Scotland who quit his job after going viral on TikTok singing a sea shanty has landed the number one spot in the Official Big Top 40 music chart.

Nathan Evans, from Airdrie, kick-started a new viral craze of sea-shantying on TikTok and signing a record deal with Polydor Records.

The 26-year-old’s song Wellerman is the country’s new number one hit with a remix of the song by 220 KID and Billen Ted taking number three.

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It beat Olivia Rodrigo's Drivers License, Ed Sheeran's Afterglow, which is at No4 in the chart, and Riton & Nightcrawlers' Friday to take the top spot.

Nathan Evans, the former postman who was behind the viral sea shanty trend on the platform, has landed the number one spot in the UK charts picture: PANathan Evans, the former postman who was behind the viral sea shanty trend on the platform, has landed the number one spot in the UK charts picture: PA
Nathan Evans, the former postman who was behind the viral sea shanty trend on the platform, has landed the number one spot in the UK charts picture: PA

Mr Evans previously told the PA news agency: "Back in the day when the shanties were sung, it was to bring everybody together, to keep them all in time, to keep the morale high.

"Especially in this time when everybody's stuck at home, they're doing their remote working - they can join in, and it kind of brings everybody together.

"So I think it's just kind of brought it into this day and age. It makes it feel like you're all united. Especially seeing how creative everybody can be with it."

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Wellerman is a cover of a 2018 song by Bristol group The Longest Johns which also entered the Official Top 40 just last week.

The Official Big Top 40 is the UK’s biggest music chart show with more than one million listeners tuning in each week on Sundays from 4pm – 7pm, on Capital and Heart radio station.

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