Nathaniel Rateliff “S.O.B.” released

S.O.B. Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats

Writer(s): Nathaniel Rateliff (see lyrics here) Released: July 16, 2015 First Charted: September 5, 2015 Peak: 14 AA, 18 AR, 3 MR, 36 CN, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, -- UK, 1.32 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 111.32 video, 201.31 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Singer/songwriter Nathaniel Rateliff was born in 1978 in St. Louis, Missouri. In 2002, he formed the band Born in the Flood in Denver, Colorado. They released one album in 2007 and in 2010 Rateliff established himself as “critically celebrated folksy Americana singer/songwriter” AM with his first solo album. He also fronted the Wheel before, in 2013, forming the Night Sweats with longtime collaborator Joseph Pope III. They released their self-titled debut album in 2015. It was “a hard-swinging, house-rocking affair that draws heavily on vintage R&B, soul, and proto rock & roll.” AM The album reached #17 in the United States and went gold. The lead single, “S.O.B.,” reached #1 on the adult alternative chart and went platinum. Rateliff said it was a joke song WK that “I didn’t really want to put on the first record. It just wasn’t something I connected with but I knew that when we played it live, people loved it.” SF He said the song is, “at heart, a troubled song about drinking one’s life away after a break-up.” WK The “southern-gospel influenced song” SF sounds like it could come from Music from Big Pink by the Band. AM The song starts off “with foot stomping and handclaps as the only accompaniment, before the entire band erupts in a carousing chorus. This reverses gospel’s usual Saturday-night-to-Sunday-morning course; it is one of the rowdiest broken-heart songs you'll ever hear.” AM “S.O.B.” got a major boost when Rateliff and his band performed it on The Tonight Show on August 5, 2015. WK Host Jimmy Fallon tweeted before the show, “If you believe in soul…if you believe in rock ‘n’ roll…if you believe in performing your guts out…Enjoy the band on our show tonight.” SF Resources: AM AllMusic.com album review by Thom Jurek SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 7/6/2025.