Hot 100 First-Timers: Sombr Scores First Entry With ‘Back to Friends’

Sombr appears on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time (on the chart dated April 12) with his breakthrough single, “Back to Friends.”

Released Dec. 27 on SMB/Warner Records, the track debuts at No. 90 largely from its streaming sum: 6 million official U.S. streams (up 15%) in the March 28-April 3 tracking week, according to Luminate. It also raked in 304,000 radio airplay audience impressions (up 13%).

The song concurrently climbs 10-8 on Hot Alternative Songs, 10-9 on Hot Rock Songs and 13-11 on Hot Rock & Alternative Songs. It opens at No. 38 on Alternative Airplay with a 33% gain in format spins, earning Sombr his first appearance on a radio chart.

The streaming gains for the song can partly be attributed to attention on TikTok, as it has soundtracked more than 240,000 videos on the platform to date.

Sombr has another song building on TikTok: “Undressed” has been used in more than 110,000 clips. Released March 21, it pushes 13-11 on Hot Alternative Songs, 12-11 on Hot Rock Songs and 16-14 on Hot Rock & Alternative Songs.

Sombr (real name Shane Boose) is the sole credited writer and producer on “Back to Friends.” On “Undressed,” he’s listed as the only writer, and as a co-producer with veteran producer/A&R executive Tony Berg. Berg has previously appeared on Billboard’s charts as a writer or producer on hits by Phoebe Bridgers (“Kyoto,” “Garden Song”) and, in the late 1980s/early 1990s, Michael Penn (“No Myth,” “This & That”). He has also worked on charted projects by Boygenius, Andrew Bird, Phantom Planet, Aimee Mann, Edie Brickell & New Bohemians and others. In 2023, he served as a producer on the Daisy Jones & The Six soundtrack, Aurora.

Sombr releaed his debut eight-track EP, in another life, in 2023. He’s currently on the road as the opening act for Daniel Seavey’s Second Wind Tour. In May, he’ll join Nessa Barrett on the European leg of her Aftercare tour, which runs through June.