'Wellerman' sea shanty singer inks deal with Universal

You’d have had to have been living under a rock to not have noticed the sea shanty meme currently sweeping the Internet.

After being birthed on TikTok by folk musician Nathan Evans, his rendition of the New Zealand-originating whaling ballad ‘Soon May the Wellerman Come’ has landed a record deal with Polydor.

‘Wellerman’ is currently sitting in the UK Top 40, albeit as a version sung by band The Longest Johns.

Of the track, Evans said: “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.”

It’s been given a house remix by 220 KID x Billen Ted, which you can listen to below.