The Pittsburgh Penguins released their 2026-27 player playlist this week, the annual rundown of what everyone in the room is listening to. One entry has dominated the conversation since, and it belongs to the 39-year-old captain.
Sidney Crosby went with “12 to 12” by sombr, the New York alt-pop artist who broke through with a run of viral hits over the past couple of years and whose audience skews heavily toward listeners a third of Crosby’s age.
Sidney Crosby’s song choice
For a player whose public image is built on routine and consistency, it did not compute.
“You will never in a million years guess the song that Sidney Crosby selected,” one fan wrote while sharing the list.
“Genuinely nothing could’ve prepared me,” another added.
The disbelief was less about the song itself than about the gap between it and everything else people associate with him.
“He’s such a poser. Trying to be cool with the kids. Sidney, bud, they love your grandpa vibes. Embrace them,” one fan wrote.
READ MORE: How to watch the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2026-27
Others reached for his track record, and they have a point. Crosby’s pick for the 2024-25 playlist was “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” by Shaboozey, as PensBurgh documented at the time, which was the most inescapable song in North America that autumn.
“Sid chose sombr???? That man doesn’t listen to anything other than what’s on the radio. His pick two seasons ago was literally a bar song by Shaboozey, like please leave her alone guys please,” one fan wrote.
“I’m convinced Sid just randomly chooses a song from the top 50 every year, because genuinely why,” another said.
All-time leader
The Penguins have run the playlist for years, and Crosby’s entries have become a small annual event in their own right. Pittsburgh outlet PensBurgh once described him as “the notorious bowl of raisin bran he is” while reviewing the Shaboozey selection, which gives some idea of the expectations he was working against this time.
Crosby is entering his 22nd NHL season and the final year of his contract, coming off 29 goals and 74 points in 68 games. He passed Mario Lemieux as the Penguins’ all-time points leader last season and now sits seventh in league history with 1,761.
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