He did all this before turning 21 on Sunday (July 5).
7/2/2026
Sombr performs onstage at The 52nd American Music Awards held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 25, 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Rich Polk/Dick Clark Productions
Turning 21 is a momentous occasion for anybody, but it’s usually a time for formulating plans and getting more serious about achieving your goals. Sombr, who turns 21 on Sunday (July 5) has already achieved more than he probably ever dreamed possible.
Just this year, he performed at the Grammys, the Brit Awards and the Songwriters Hall of Fame induction gala. At the SHOF event, Taylor Swift sang his praises with a compliment that he will likely never forget – “His writing is so exceptional that it makes me actually envious, and I love that feeling.”
In December 2025, Sombr (a stage name which contains his initials SMB, for Shane Michael Boose) was the subject of a Billboard profile in which writer Andrew Unterberger concluded: “Sombr blew up quicker in 2025 than any young pop-rock star since Olivia Rodrigo, a journey that has taken him in one year’s 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.”
Sombr’s own take on his success: “I think people are just craving real music with real instruments and real bridges and really thoughtful writing. And I think we’re headed in the right direction. I’m loving the current state of the charts right now, with Olivia Dean and RAYE and Rosalía and, you know, me! I didn’t set out to make pop songs — I initially set out to make alternative indie songs. [They] became pop songs because they were catchy.”
Sombr’s forthcoming sophomore album (set for release this fall) has already spawned three singles: “Homewrecker,” which is up to No. 16 on this week’s Hot 100, “Potential” and the just-released “My Body Isn’t Ready.”
Here are Sombr’s nine most impressive accomplishments before turning 21.
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Sept. 7, 2025: First awards show performance; first major award win
Sombr made his awards show debut on the MTV Video Music Awards, where he performed “Back to Friends” and “12 to 12.” He lost best new artist to Alex Warren but won best alternative for “Back to Friends.”
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Sept. 20, 2025: Debut album makes the top 10 on the Billboard 200
Sombr’s debut album, I Barely Know Her, climbs to No. 10 in its third week on the Billboard 200. Sombr was the sole writer of every song on the album, which he co-produced with Tony Berg (except for two tracks he produced by himself).
The album ranked No. 30 on Billboard’s “The 50 Best Albums of 2025: Staff Picks” list, where I wrote: “Though Sombr is just 20, he knows his pop history: The stacked harmonies and melancholy undertones in his hit singles ‘Undressed’ and ‘Back to Friends’ are reminiscent of The Beach Boys, while several other tracks on debut set I Barely Know Her are rooted in ’90s alternative rock. What’s more, Sombr wrote every song on the album himself, and co-produced it with Tony Berg (except for two tracks he produced on his own). The rising star kept ascending following his LP’s August release, winning best alternative at the VMAs in September and snaring a Grammy nod for best new artist in November. Win or lose on Feb. 1, this talented newcomer should be headed for a long career.”
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Oct. 6, 2025: Taylor Swift sings his praises for the first (but not last) time
Taylor Swift called Sombr “amazing” in a SiriusXM interview, a moment he told Unterberger was akin to “breaking the simulation.” Swift later also gifted sombr a four-leaf clover necklace. They sat together at the 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards on March 26, where he won four awards (and she won seven). Swift gave him a shout-out at the Songwriters Hall of Fame Gala, where he performed two of her songs, “Dear John” and “cardigan”: “A lot of my late-night debates with my friends about the state of the music industry involve me saying very loudly, ‘Sombr is the future, and he does it all on his own, and he doesn’t need AI. The kids are fine.’”
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Dec. 13, 2025: Tops Billboard’s year-end Hot Rock Songwriters chart for 2025
Sombr ranked No. 1 on Billboard’s 2025 year-end Hot Rock Songwriters chart, which Unterberger called “a fitting honor for an artist who has helped return rock to the pop mainstream as a songwriter first and foremost.”
The artist agreed that he is a songwriter above all: “Even if I take a week [off], I’m still going to be writing,” he says. “I can’t not write, because it’s what I enjoy doing.”
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Jan. 10, 2026: “Back to Friends” reaches No. 7 on the Hot 100
Sombr was the sole writer and sole producer of “Back to Friends,” which reached No. 7 on the Hot 100. The song is now 2 billion+ streams on Spotify.
“Back to Friends” ranked No. 13 on Billboard’s “The 100 Best Songs of 2025: Staff Picks” list. Unterberger said of the song: “The first thing that hits you, obviously, is the chorus: a guttural howl of unreciprocated passion that makes palpable both the hurt and sheer incredulity anyone feels after finally making the leap with a partner, and then being expected to immediately jump right back. But ‘Back to Friends’ became one of the year’s slowest-building top 10 hits because every time you listen to it, a new element of the impressively rich writing and production hooks you even further — from the gorgeous backing sighs, to that one guitar chord playing over and over like a bad idea in your head, to Sombr’s pained and thoroughly convincing wail on the bridge: “This is casuaaaaallllll…..”
Sombr also single-handledly wrote and co-produced two other top 20 hits, “Undressed” (No. 16 in October 2025) and “Homewrecker” (No. 16 this week).
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Jan. 31, 2026: Performs on the Grammys where he is nominated for best new artist
At 20, Sombr was the youngest best new artist nominee in four years, since The Kid LAROI and Olivia Rodrigo were 18 and 19, respectively, at the 2022 ceremony.
He didn’t win – the award went to Olivia Dean – but he shouldn’t be discouraged. Among the many superstars who also didn’t win in that category is one Taylor Swift, who lost in 2008 to Amy Winehouse.
Sombr also capped the annual best new artist performance medley with a bit of his hit “12 to 12.” Of that song, Billboard‘s Jason Lipshutz wrote: “If ‘Back to Friends’ and ‘Undressed’ established Sombr as Gen Z’s leading student of alternative rock, ’12 to 12′ let the word know that the young singer-songwriter could both ride a guitar groove and bust a move.”
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Feb. 28, 2026: Performs on the Brit Awards where he is a double nominee
Sombr was nominated for two Brit Awards – best international artist and best international song (“Back to Friends”). He also performed “Undressed” and “Back to Friends” on the telecast.
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April 11 & 18, 2026: Performs at Coachella with a surprise special guest.
Performed at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival alongside such artists as Jack White, Addison Rae, Geese, PinkPantheress, The Strokes, David Byrne and Justin Bieber.
“Making his Coachella debut after a whirlwind rise over the last year, Sombr swaggered onto the Outdoor Stage wearing sunglasses, studded black leather pants and a black leather jacket over a black lace shirt,” Billboard‘s Katie Bain wrote. “He looked a lot like a rock star, and acted like one too, busting moves with his mic stand and at one point actually dropping to his knees during a scorching solo from his guitarist. Naturally, the show featured music largely from his 2025 debut I Barely Know Her, as well as the show-opening 2026 single ‘Homewrecker’ and, later, ‘1979’ — the Smashing Pumpkins classic, for which frontman Billy Corgan made his first ever Coachella appearance to come out and duet on. The two men’s voices sounded complementary in tandem, and surely the cosign from the alt-rock legend added further credibility to an already-respectable show that drew a packed crowd.”
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May 25, 2026: Wins three awards at American Music Awards
Sombr took three awards at the AMAs – breakthrough rock/alternative artist, best rock/alternative song (“Back to Friends”) and best rock/alternative album. Those three awards put him in a tie for most awards of the night with Bruno Mars, BTS, Cardi B, HUNTR/X, Katseye and Sabrina Carpenter.
He also performed his new single, “Homewrecker.”
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