Sombr was the musician chosen to provide the music for Taylor Swift‘s induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Swift is herself a fan of his music and made no effort to hide it as part of her acceptance speech. “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,” Swift said, “The kids are fine.’… Shane is a very well-adjusted person and artist, and doesn’t need any of my advice at all.”
For his part, Sombr offered up versions of Swift’s “Dear John” and “cardigan.” The performances were tight, with him just standing on stage, backed by a band, and without any of the arena-sized performance Swift did for her Eras tour. The songs were the highlight and the performance skillfully showed the quality of the writing.
Also inducted this year were Tricky Stewart, who was honored with a performance of “Single Ladies” by Tamar Braxton and Kylie Cantrell covering Rihanna‘s “Umbrella.” Other honorees included Alanis Morissette and songwriting duos Britten and Lyle as well as Kiss‘ Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley.
Sombr sings “Dear John” to honor #TaylorSwift at the 2026 Songwriters Hall of Fame pic.twitter.com/ngW3Y4gId4
— Variety (@Variety) June 12, 2026
