In the last 5 years, the music industry has seen the rise and fall of many musicians on the horizon. However, within the past year, there has been one name in particular that is leaving his mark both within the music but also overall personality. Sombr, born Shane Micheal Boose, on July 5th, 2005. Sombr was born and raised on the Lower East Side of New York. And despite only being 20 years old, he has taken the music world by storm and is here to stay.
Sombr’s love for music began from a very early age. In elementary school, he was introduced to the app GarageBand. An app where someone can play around with sounds and create amateur music. Sombr used this to experiment with beats and harmonies, even writing his first song at 10 years old. He used it until middle school when he moved on to using Logic Pro X. It is an Apple software, typically used by producers, so they can record, mix, and overall create music. He used a combination of YouTube tutorials and Logic Pro X to learn production techniques and began producing his own music. During his junior year at LaGuardia High School, an art school where he was being classically trained as a vocal major, he promoted his first single, “Caroline”, on TikTok in 2022. And by the next morning, Sombr was being sought out by many record labels. This was just the beginning. Following the blow-up of “Caroline”, Sombr saw that he had no vital reason to stay in school anymore. So in the midst of his junior year, he dropped out of high school. He explained that his mom wasn’t the happiest with his decision to leave school, but his dad was a bit more supportive. Sombr hasn’t expressed any regret about dropping out and explains his thought process as, “ ‘This is all I wanted to do. Why should I go to school and delay the whole thing when it’s happening now?’”. In the following year, Sombr officially signed with Warner Records and released his first single with a label, “Weak”, and in September 2023, he released his first EP (Extended Play), In Another Life which was co-produced with Tony Berg. Between 2023 and the beginning of 2025, Sombr had a slow rise in popularity. He kept releasing singles, and he began as an opener for some artists on tour, like Nessa Barrett and Daniel Seavey. It wasn’t until March 2025 that his life truly changed forever.
Sombr released “Back to Friends” on December 27th, 2024. The first two months of it being out, it didn’t receive a whole lot of traction until March 2025, when Sombr released “Undressed” and he started to promote both songs on his TikTok, and they went viral. Within the month, Sombr was all over TikTok. Both songs reached the top 25 on Billboard Hot 100 and then on Billboard Global 200 as top 20. This led to him receiving major recognition before March had ended; he had surpassed 10 million monthly listeners. And by April 21st, Sombr had over 20 million listeners. In April, he also announced his first solo tour: The Late Nights And Young Romance Tour. The tour received far more love than his team had anticipated. He ended up upgrading most of the venues and added 12 more shows, totaling to about 20 shows. Sombr was rising, and he was rising fast.
On August 22nd, 2025, Sombr released his very first album, I Barely Know Her. And wow, did it take the world by storm. It’s a blend of indie rock and pop with 10 songs consisting of longing, heartbreak, life in New York, and reflection. He was nominated for best alternative video, best new artist, and song of the summer in the 2025 MTV Music Awards. The award show took place on September 7th, 2025, where out of the 3 nominations, he won best alternative video for “back to friends”. He also did a performance at the show where he played his hit song “back to friends” and a new song from his new album “12 to 12”. It was quite the performance that said he was there, and he was a hit. As of today, Sombr is in the midst of The Late Nights And Young Romance tour, which has now turned to 31 shows just in North America and more internationally. Sombr continues to captivate the world with his music and his online personality, such as his spam TikTok account, which he says is “for the girls who get it”. In a very short time, Sombr has managed to leave his mark on the world, and this is just the beginning.