Sombr’s ‘Back to Friends’ Hits No. 1 on Pop Airplay Chart

Sombr’s “Back to Friends” jumps three spots to No. 1 on Billboard’s Pop Airplay chart (dated Feb. 7).

The song earns the singer-songwriter born Shane Boose his first Pop Airplay leader. He first reached the chart with his other top 10 to date, “Undressed,” which hit No. 4 in September.

Meanwhile, “Back to Friends,” on SMB/Warner Records, is a rare solely self-written and self-produced Pop Airplay No. 1. It’s the chart’s first leader by a single writer since Glass Animals’ “Heat Waves,” written by the band’s frontman, Dave Bayley, in February 2022. That song likewise ended a four-year gap for such No. 1s, dating to Ed Sheeran’s “Perfect” in early 2018.

“Back to Friends” is also the first Pop Airplay No. 1 that a single talent both authored and produced since Bayley solely claimed both credits on “Heat Waves.” Before that, Pharrell Williams wrote, produced and performed “Happy,” which dominated in 2014.

Additionally, only 6% of all Pop Airplay No. 1s (dating to the chart’s October 1992 start) have also topped Alternative Airplay, with “Back to Friends” having led the latter list for five weeks last June-July. One hit doubled up atop the tallies in 2025 — Lola Young’s “Messy” — after two did in 2024: Myles Smith’s “Stargazing” and Hozier’s “Too Sweet.”