Sombr Says His Hit ‘Back to Friends’ Came From a ‘Dark Point’ in Life

For Sombr, performing his hit breakup lament “Back to Friends” each night means revisiting “a really dark point” of his life, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Every night when I play it, I relive everything I was feeling that night when I wrote it,” he says as MTV’s Global Push Artist for September. “All the emotions come back. That song saved me in a way, and being able to end my show with it… It’s just, like, full circle every night.”

Along with recording a new life rendition of the track as the MTV Push Artist, he will also make his awards show performance debut on Sept. 7 at the 2025 MTV VMAs, where he’s nominated for both Best New Artist and Best Alternative. 

As for where he gets his inspiration, Sombr, born Shane Boose, grew up listening to “what my dad played around the house,” he adds, “which was like The Beatles, The Stones, Radiohead, Velvet Underground, just amazing bands. My earliest memories are my dad playing guitar. We always had instruments at my house, and I remember the first song I wrote with my sister. I was probably, like, six. So as long as I can remember it’s been a part of me. It’s hard for me to remember a reality without music, it doesn’t exist for me.”

Sombr is enjoying his rapid success. “It’s hard to step back and be like, ‘Wow, this is amazing’ when everything is happening so fast, but it is the best thing that has ever happened to me,” he tells MTV. “Being able to meet all these people, go to all these countries, and see all these new faces and beautiful people who connect with my music — it’s all I ever wanted to do in my life, so it’s the best thing ever.”

The 2025 MTV VMAs air live from New York’s UBS Arena on Sunday, Sept. 7 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS, simulcast on MTV and streaming on Paramount+.