“My publisher called and said, ‘Don’t take any low offers on this as they come in.’ It was quite an onslaught,” recalls Sebastian, who was worried that a year without touring would dry up his finances. The activity also led to a 333% boost in total streaming for the song year-to-date (343% since the outbreak period of late March) and 230,000 combined Shazams for the two main versions. Sebastian’s original master, its popular 2004 remake by Mase and other versions had been licensed for more than a half-dozen major ad campaigns and promo spots, with another seven pending.

And soon after, the calls kept coming - from Applebee’s, Long Island’s PSEG, Major League Baseball, Fox Sports Network and many others.īy late July, “Welcome Back” had become an unofficial reopening anthem for a pandemic-plagued world. A music supervisor for French sporting goods company Decathlon placed a call to see if “Welcome Back” was available to be used as a sync for the brand’s campaign that was set to debut on May 11, when many businesses in France were set to re-open from quarantine lockdown.

Mase welcome back video