{"id":180106,"date":"2025-12-12T03:23:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-12T03:23:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/180106\/"},"modified":"2025-12-12T03:23:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T03:23:08","slug":"sombr-talks-tour-snl-taylor-swift-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/180106\/","title":{"rendered":"sombr Talks Tour, ‘SNL,’ Taylor Swift & More"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tIt\u2019s mid-November when sombr<\/a> catches up with Billboard over Zoom from his Los Angeles home, but the fastest-rising 20-year-old singer-songwriter in the United States still has two additional continents left on his travel schedule for 2025. \u201cI\u2019m in London next week for [The Graham Norton Show] and a little underplay,\u201d he explains. \u201cThen, a week after that, I start my Australia run.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMost Americans his age would only be visiting these places on a family vacation or with a study abroad program; once sombr flies out, he\u2019ll sit with Kate Hudson, Hugh Jackman and Ben Stiller on Norton\u2019s couch, then headline five sold-out shows in Oceania. It\u2019s a fitting end to a whirlwind year when the alt-pop\/rock artist born Shane Boose has logged thousands of miles across 60-plus live dates over three continents.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cMy favorite [thing] is waking up in a new city and just doing that daily routine of getting up, going to a new coffee shop, going to a new vintage store and then playing the show that night,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s what I love and that\u2019s home for me right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHe can call the world his home because few new artists have been so globally embraced this year. He has already scored three top\u00a025 hits on the Billboard Global\u00a0200<\/a> \u2014 the biggest of which, his No.\u00a05-peaking breakout single, \u201cBack to Friends,\u201d<\/a> also just became his first Billboard Hot\u00a0100<\/a> top\u00a010 hit \u2014 and his debut album, August\u2019s I\u00a0Barely Know Her, reached the top\u00a010 on the Billboard\u00a0200<\/a> and official charts everywhere from New Zealand to Switzerland. He\u2019s also No.\u00a01 on Billboard\u2019s 2025 year-end Hot Rock Songwriters<\/a> chart, a fitting honor for an artist who has helped return rock to the pop mainstream as a songwriter first and foremost.<\/p>\n

\n\tSombr is still processing his new normal. \u201cHaving people there that are fans of me and signs with my face on it\u2026 it just doesn\u2019t compute in your brain in a place like that,\u201d he says of his first visit to Tokyo, his favorite of his honorary hometowns. \u201cLike, I get shocked when I go to another city in America and that happens \u2014 let alone a new continent.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHe\u2019ll have to get used to it. Sombr blew up quicker in 2025 than any young pop-rock star since Olivia Rodrigo, a journey that has taken him in one year\u2019s time from an indie-skewing singer-songwriter trying to show that he could play in the majors to a proven hit-maker who counts the Recording Academy and Taylor Swift as fans.<\/p>\n

\n\tSombr first signed to Warner as a 17-year-old in early 2023, when he was attending high school at New York\u2019s famed performing arts school LaGuardia. He comes from showbiz stock: Sombr\u2019s father, Andy Boose, played in a number of New York bands in the 2000s, finding some notoriety with his provocative alter ego, Ren\u00e9 Risqu\u00e9 \u2014 and \u201che \u00adhanded me the guitar,\u201d his son says. As a teenager, sombr started uploading his bedroom compositions and sharing them on TikTok. One of them, the gauzy love song \u201cCaroline,\u201d caught fire and immediately put him on the radars of multiple labels, including Warner.<\/p>\n

\n\tA&R executive Chris Morris admits that when the teen first gained traction almost three years ago, the Warner team moved so fast to land him that it still didn\u2019t know much about him when he officially joined the roster. But it didn\u2019t take long before Morris realized what a wise investment the label had made. \u201cAfter we\u2019d done the deal, he came into our office and sat with everyone,\u201d Morris recalls. \u201cHe played eight or nine or 10 snippets of songs that were so good\u2026 We walked away from that meeting saying, \u2018Oh, my God, this is a real artist. He has real depth and something to say.\u2019\u00a0\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Sombr\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tSombr<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBryce Glenn<\/p>\n

\n\tFrom there, it was just a matter of finding the right veteran to pair with the prodigious but raw sombr. \u201cHe\u2019d never been in a studio with anyone, so the thought was, \u2018You kind of need a guide, more of like a paternal presence in there\u2026\u2019 And the best person I know to do that \u2014 who\u2019s also making the best-sounding records, in a classic way \u2014 was Tony.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tTony is Tony Berg, the industry lifer from the days of Bette Midler and The Rocky Horror Picture Show who has remained relevant for the half-century since. (Of Berg\u2019s voluminous r\u00e9sum\u00e9, sombr was most impressed by his work with 21st\u00a0century indie icon Phoebe Bridgers.) After getting to know each other, the singer-songwriter says he and the producer \u201cfell in love with working together\u201d; he brought in more developed songs than Berg expected and Berg in turn showed him how to complete them.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cEarlier on in my career, I was very, like, lazy,\u201d sombr explains. \u201cI would write a good verse and a good chorus and be like, \u2018Oh, and I didn\u2019t do a second verse.\u2019 But Tony held me to a certain standard and really showed me what a good song through and through is, and he wouldn\u2019t work on something that wasn\u2019t fully fleshed [out].\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFor the next couple of years, the two worked on one-off songs that built sombr\u2019s audience and established his sonic brand. However, their efforts failed to take him to the next level. \u201cI think he was in a low place,\u201d Morris says of sombr at the time. \u201cHe felt like some of his records hadn\u2019t really performed in the way that he thought that they would. And he just decided one night, he\u2019s like, \u2018I\u2019m going to do exactly what I want. I don\u2019t care what anyone else says. I\u2019m going to do what I\u2019m inspired to do.\u2019 And that was \u2018Back to Friends.\u2019\u00a0\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile sombr had made his name on dreamy, washed-out bedroom ballads, \u201cBack to Friends,\u201d released in December 2024, was something new: a pulsing, hot-blooded howl of requited-then-unrequited passion and despair, clearly meant to be performed with a full band. And Berg\u2019s internalized lessons, combined with sombr\u2019s already sharp instincts, made for by far his fullest song to that point.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cBack to Friends\u201d spread slowly but surely, reaching the Hot\u00a0100 in April. As the song earned the kind of crossover success most bedroom pop musicians can only dream of, it would\u2019ve been understandable for sombr to drop his other efforts and push his breakout hit. Instead, he released \u201cUndressed.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tSombr had been teasing snippets of the new song on TikTok, and his growing following was responding enthusiastically to the bouncy midtempo lament. Warner was over the moon about the new song \u2014 \u201cI sent that to Aaron [Bay-Schuck], our CEO, and I just wrote, \u2018Dude,\u2019\u00a0\u201d Morris recalls \u2014 but was hesitant to let another track get in the way of \u201cFriends.\u201d But sombr saw the fan excitement, and he didn\u2019t want to risk it cooling down. \u201cShane wants to move things fast,\u201d Morris says. \u201cHe\u2019s reading his audience. He digests and deciphers music the same way that his fans do, and that\u2019s quick. And it\u2019s like, \u2018Let\u2019s get something out.\u2019\u00a0\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSo just a week after \u201cBack to Friends\u201d debuted on the Hot\u00a0100, \u201cUndressed\u201d joined it, with the two songs fanning each other\u2019s flames rather than extinguishing them. Within a month, both had climbed to the chart\u2019s top half. \u201cThey both kind of informed each other and really let the audience know that it\u2019s not about one song \u00ad\u2014 this is a really capable, unique artist,\u201d Morris says.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile many musicians \u2014 particularly alt-\u00adleaning artists \u2014 downplay the role of TikTok in their creative processes, sombr is very open about the role it has had in his success. \u201cBeing able to A\/B test things in real time is something that you\u2019ve never been able to do [before as a musician] in history, really,\u201d he points out. \u201cTesting it with my audience to decide what out of the 100 things to work on is the hugest blessing. And I think people should do that more.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Sombr<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tSombr performs at the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards at UBS Arena on Sept. 7, 2025 in Elmont, New York.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tChristopher Polk for Billboard<\/p>\n

\n\tWith two big hits under his belt, sombr was officially one of 2025\u2019s most exciting breakout stars. The opportunities started to roll in, including late-night performances and his awards show debut at the MTV Video Music Awards in September. By then, he had a third hit: the lusty disco stomper \u201c12\u00a0to\u00a012.\u201d<\/a> Following his medley VMAs performance of \u201cFriends\u201d and \u201c12,\u201d the latter shot into the Hot\u00a0100\u2019s top\u00a050 while his first two hits were still percolating in the top\u00a025.<\/p>\n

\n\tMorris cites the Warner team\u2019s radio strategy as a reason the songs did so well simultaneously. \u201cWe were able to kind of divide and conquer,\u201d he says, explaining that \u201cUndressed\u201d was growing at pop radio while \u201cFriends\u201d was still climbing on alternative. \u201cThen, of course, \u201812\u00a0to\u00a012\u2019 comes in\u2026 [The team was] able to kind of traffic-control a little bit and make sure that everything was kind of working at the same time and not canceling anything else out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIt also helped that the three songs, while clearly by the same artist, were totally different in tempo, feeling and structure, allowing sombr to credibly play both sides of the pop-rock divide \u2014 to the extent that once-mighty chasm even still exists. At the turn of the decade, a guitar-based song like \u201cBack to Friends\u201d or \u201cUndressed\u201d would have had little chance at virality or top\u00a040 radio. Now, sombr isn\u2019t the only artist achieving both of those \u2014 with multiple songs to boot \u2014 as fellow breakouts Lola Young and The Mar\u00edas joined him on pop radio with guitar-driven hits. Suddenly, the pop world looked like sombr\u2019s for the taking.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI think people are just craving real music with real instruments and real bridges and really thoughtful writing,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd I think we\u2019re headed in the right direction. I\u2019m loving the current state of the charts right now, with Olivia Dean and RAYE and Rosal\u00eda and, you know, me! I didn\u2019t set out to make pop songs \u2014 I initially set out to make alternative indie songs. [They] became pop songs because they were catchy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s easier to envision sombr as a pop star than most alt-branded artists, though, because unlike many of them, he\u2019s willing to think big with his visuals, creating distinct looks and finding ways to make each one memorable. (His newfound clout makes that last part easier: He was able to nab Addison Rae to co-star in his \u201c12\u00a0to\u00a012\u201d video.) Sombr calls it a \u201cpain in my ass\u201d to still have to figure out visuals after he\u2019s done with all the music and production, but he acknowledges their importance and remains committed to being heavily involved, with the help of a small circle of trusted collaborators.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019ve worked with the same photographer for everything; I\u2019ve only worked with, like, one music video director,\u201d he says. \u201cWhat has gotten me [this] far is me being super hands-on with the creative and not letting anything slide or anything get past me or anything be half-assed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe success sombr had experienced by September was fairly astonishing \u2014 and also included the release of his debut album, I\u00a0Barely Know Her (as in \u201cSombr? I barely\u2026\u201d), which collected the album\u2019s three Hot\u00a0100 hits and seven other songs for an impressively consistent first effort, drawing mostly strong reviews and cracking the Billboard\u00a0200\u2019s top\u00a010.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut his biggest wins of the year occurred in 2025\u2019s final quarter. In October, he received the biggest co-sign a pop aspirant could ask for when Swift shouted him out as \u201camazing\u201d in a SiriusXM interview, a moment he refers to as \u201cbreaking the simulation.\u201d Swift later also gifted sombr a four-leaf clover necklace \u2014 which he wears to his Billboard Zoom chat \u2014 though he declines to share the story behind it out of respect for the pop icon. (\u201cBut it was, like, the sweetest message and very, very selfless of her to give me this,\u201d he says.)<\/p>\n

\n\tThen in November, he made his debut both as a Saturday Night Live performer and a Grammy Award nominee, scoring a nod for best new artist. As a New York kid, he says doing SNL was a trip \u2014 though he wishes he could\u2019ve gotten in a skit (\u201cNext time, maybe\u201d) \u2014 but he calls the Grammy recognition \u201ccrazier than everything.\u201d In fact, he purposefully slept through the nominations announcement so that he wouldn\u2019t make himself crazy over receiving one or not. (He\u2019s hoping he gets the call to perform: \u201cI\u2019ll do whatever the f\u2013k they want me to do. Just f\u2013king let me play. Please. I love you, Grammys.\u201d)<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd all the while, he has continued to tour \u2014 with a live schedule that has barely let up since May and has required on-the-fly venue upgrades to accommodate the increased demand. \u201cI had to, like, constantly check the new tour poster,\u201d says singer-songwriter Devon Gabriella, laughing about learning to roll with the punches as sombr\u2019s tour opener. \u201cWe were playing here, and it was, like, going to be 1,200 people\u2026 Oh, perfect. Now it\u2019s 6,000!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAs his shows got bigger, sombr also kept scaling up his performance theatrics \u2014 \u201cI\u2019m big on really investing into these shows and not being cheap about it,\u201d he says \u2014 adding a running talk show theme and inviting his fans up to leave their \u201ctoxic ex\u201d a voice message. (The live show sparked some online discourse when a slightly older fan went viral with a TikTok complaining about its \u201ccringeiness\u201d and sombr posted an equally fast-spreading rejoinder; fan responses to the two videos were mixed.)<\/p>\n

\n\tStill, nothing has managed to slow down sombr\u2019s momentum this year \u2014 and as his live show has pushed on, his stage has become a frequent stop for pop star pop-outs, from veteran hit-makers like Sam Smith and Sophie Ellis-Bextor to more contemporary kindred spirits like Laufey and Cigarettes After Sex.<\/p>\n

\n\tGabriella says that in 28 shows on the road with sombr, she never missed an opportunity to catch at least some of his headlining set. \u201cI think just seeing him operate on that level and still being so young was very, very motivating,\u201d she raves. \u201cHe fully embodies his art. And he\u2019s a rock star. I\u2019d watch his show and I\u2019d be like, \u2018You\u2019re a f\u2013king rock star.\u2019\u00a0\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAs jam-packed as 2025 has been for sombr, he\u2019s not easing up in 2026. He\u2019s already got a month of European tour dates lined up for late winter, as well as his first Coachella shows in April \u2014 and the Grammys await in February. \u201cI might take a week for New Year\u2019s,\u201d he says. \u201cBut that\u2019s going to be the only week I have [off] the next year.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd even as his IRL duties have increased, he remains diligent online. Sombr no longer needs to constantly self-promote \u2014 and social media sometimes proves more trouble than it\u2019s worth \u2014 but he nonetheless posts on TikTok regularly. \u201cI still do it because it\u2019s what got me here,\u201d he acknowledges. \u201cAnd I\u2019m not just going to act like it didn\u2019t get me here and act like, \u2018Social media is lame, whatever.\u2019\u00a0\u201d (He allows that an occasional break might not be the worst idea, \u201cbut it\u2019s really hard when it lives on your phone that you use for everything. I haven\u2019t really had much luck with that\u2026\u201d)<\/p>\n

\n\tThe hardest habit for sombr to break, it turns out, is songwriting: \u201cEven if I take a week [off], I\u2019m still going to be writing,\u201d he says. \u201cI can\u2019t not write, because it\u2019s what I enjoy doing.\u201d He\u2019s already been hard at work on two new songs, which he says are \u201clevels and levels above my previous stuff,\u201d and which Morris is equally excited about: \u201cThe new stuff that he\u2019s doing is just so good. He\u2019s just in this moment of [being] really kind of tapped into the source.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWill it all eventually get to be too much for him? Many of sombr\u2019s alt-rock idols ultimately turned away from pop stardom, burned out on the road or both.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThere might be a point where, like, I get tired of being in the public eye\u2026 but I think there will never be a point where I stop creating,\u201d he says. \u201cThings can still hurt you because you\u2019re a human. But I still stand on the fact that anything that I\u2019ve experienced, I can\u2019t complain about. I mean, I can complain about it, but it\u2019s part of the job. It\u2019s what I signed up for, and if I want it to not happen, then I should quit. Which I\u2019m never going to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThis story appears in the Dec. 13, 2025, issue of\u00a0Billboard.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s mid-November when sombr catches up with Billboard over Zoom from his Los Angeles home, but the fastest-rising…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":180107,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[146,2646,85,46,409],"class_list":{"0":"post-180106","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-genre-pop","10":"tag-il","11":"tag-israel","12":"tag-music"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180106"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180106\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/180107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}