{"id":793006,"date":"2026-10-05T20:34:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T20:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/793006\/"},"modified":"2026-10-05T20:34:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T20:34:11","slug":"taylor-swifts-patient-zero-debuts-at-no-1-on-billboard-hot-100","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/793006\/","title":{"rendered":"Taylor Swift\u2019s \u2018Patient Zero\u2019 Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tTaylor Swift<\/a>\u2019s \u201cPatient Zero\u201d bounds in at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100<\/a>, becoming her 16th career leader.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe song stops the record reign of Ella Langley\u2019s \u201cChoosin\u2019 Texas,\u201d which has run up an unprecedented 24 weeks<\/a> atop the Hot 100 since February.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cPatient Zero\u201d is one of four new songs on the deluxe version, released Sept. 25, of Swift\u2019s 2025 album, The Life of a Showgirl, dubbed The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore. The set (all versions combined) surges back to No. 1<\/a> for a 13th week atop the Billboard 200<\/a> chart while its three other new tracks launch in the Hot 100\u2019s top five: \u201cCleveland!,\u201d \u201cBabylon\u201d and \u201cPink Clouding,\u201d at Nos. 3, 4 and 5, respectively.<\/p>\n

\n\tSwift boasts the third-most No. 1s in the Hot 100\u2019s history, trailing only The Beatles\u2019 20 and Mariah Carey\u2019s 19.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cPatient Zero\u201d is also Swift\u2019s 10th career No. 1 Hot 100 debut \u2014 tying her with Drake for the most.<\/p>\n

\n\tNow up to 74 career Hot 100 top 10s, Swift continues to have the most among women. She has the second-most overall, after Drake\u2019s 90.<\/p>\n

\n\tMeanwhile, The Life of a Showgirl now houses 14 Hot 100 top 10s, including its original and deluxe versions \u2014 breaking out of a tie for the most ever from an album.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tRead on for details of the entire top 10 on this week\u2019s Hot 100.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data, the lattermost metric reflecting purchases of physical singles and digital tracks from full-service digital music retailers; digital singles sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites are excluded from chart calculations. All charts dated Oct. 10, 2026, will update on Billboard.com tomorrow, Oct. 6. For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram. Plus, for all chart rules and explanations, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tLuminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.<\/p>\n

\t\u2018Patient Zero\u2019 Streams, Airplay & Sales<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cPatient Zero,\u201d on Republic Records, opens with 34.5 million official streams, 28.5 million radio airplay audience impressions and 65,000 sold in the U.S. Sept. 25-Oct. 1.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe track debuts as Swift\u2019s 12th No. 1 on the Streaming Songs<\/a> chart; at No. 16 on Radio Songs<\/a>; and as her record-extending 33rd No. 1 on Digital Song Sales<\/a>. Its Swift-directed video, starring Swift, Dakota Johnson and Colin Farrell, premiered Sept. 27<\/a> during the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe song is the 1,195th No. 1 in the Hot 100\u2019s history, and the 94th to debut at the summit<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\tSwift\u2019s 16th Hot 100 No. 1<\/p>\n

\n\tUpping her count to 16 Hot 100 No. 1s, Swift has the third-most in the chart\u2019s 68-year history.<\/p>\n

\n\tMost Billboard Hot 100 No. 1s:<\/p>\n

20, The Beatles<\/p>\n

19, Mariah Carey<\/p>\n

16, Taylor Swift<\/p>\n

14, Rihanna<\/p>\n

14, Drake<\/p>\n

13, Michael Jackson<\/p>\n

12, Madonna<\/p>\n

12, The Supremes<\/p>\n

11, Whitney Houston<\/p>\n

10, Ariana Grande<\/p>\n

10, Janet Jackson<\/p>\n

10, Bruno Mars<\/p>\n

10, Stevie Wonder<\/p>\n

\n\tHere\u2019s a rundown of Swift\u2019s Hot 100 No. 1s:<\/p>\n

\u201cPatient Zero,\u201d one week at No. 1 to date, Oct. 10, 2026*<\/p>\n

\u201cI Knew It, I Knew You,\u201d two weeks, beginning June 20, 2026*<\/p>\n

\u201cOpalite,\u201d one, Feb. 28, 2026<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Fate of Ophelia,\u201d 10, Oct. 18, 2025*<\/p>\n

\u201cFortnight,\u201d feat. Post Malone, two, May 4, 2024*<\/p>\n

\u201cIs It Over Now? (Taylor\u2019s Version) [From the Vault],\u201d one, Nov. 11, 2023*<\/p>\n

\u201cCruel Summer,\u201d four, Oct. 28, 2023<\/p>\n

\u201cAnti-Hero,\u201d eight, Nov. 5, 2022*<\/p>\n

\u201cAll Too Well (Taylor\u2019s Version),\u201d one, Nov. 27, 2021*<\/p>\n

\u201cWillow,\u201d one, Dec. 26, 2020*<\/p>\n

\u201cCardigan,\u201d one, Aug. 8, 2020*<\/p>\n

\u201cLook What You Made Me Do,\u201d three, Sept. 16, 2017<\/p>\n

\u201cBad Blood,\u201d feat. Kendrick Lamar, one, June 6, 2015<\/p>\n

\u201cBlank Space,\u201d seven, Nov. 29, 2014<\/p>\n

\u201cShake It Off,\u201d four, Sept. 6, 2014*<\/p>\n

\u201cWe Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,\u201d three, Sept. 1, 2012<\/p>\n

\n\t*No. 1 debut<\/p>\n

\n\tWith 11 Hot 100 No. 1s in the 2020s, Swift widens her lead over Drake and Ariana Grande (eight each) for the most this decade.<\/p>\n

\n\tPlus, as \u201cPatient Zero\u201d follows Swift\u2019s Hot 100 coronations in 2026 with \u201cI Knew It, I Knew You\u201d and \u201cOpalite,\u201d she\u2019s the first artist with three new No. 1s in a single year since Kendrick Lamar landed three in 2024. Among women, Grande had last tripled up, in 2020.<\/p>\n

\tSwift\u2019s 50th Week at No. 1<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cPatient Zero\u201d gives Swift a 50th week career week atop the Hot 100, combining all her chart-toppers. She\u2019s the sixth artist to reach the milestone.<\/p>\n

\n\tArtists With the Most Weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100:<\/p>\n

101, Mariah Carey<\/p>\n

60, Rihanna<\/p>\n

59, The Beatles<\/p>\n

58, Drake<\/p>\n

50, Boyz II Men<\/p>\n

50, Taylor Swift<\/p>\n

\tSwift\u2019s 71st, 72nd, 73rd & 74th Top 10s<\/p>\n

\n\tSwift elevates her career total to 74 Hot 100 top 10s, dating to her first, \u201cChange,\u201d in August 2008.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cCleveland!\u201d arrives led by 19.3 million streams, followed by \u201cBabylon\u201d (19 million) and \u201cPink Clouding\u201d (18.4 million).<\/p>\n

\n\tMost Billboard Hot 100 Top 10s:<\/p>\n

90, Drake<\/p>\n

74, Taylor Swift<\/p>\n

38, Madonna<\/p>\n

35, The Beatles<\/p>\n

32, Rihanna<\/p>\n

30, Michael Jackson<\/p>\n

29, Elton John<\/p>\n

28, Mariah Carey<\/p>\n

28, Stevie Wonder<\/p>\n

27, Justin Bieber<\/p>\n

27, Janet Jackson<\/p>\n

26, Lil Wayne<\/p>\n

25, Elvis Presley (whose career start predated<\/a> the Hot 100\u2019s inception)<\/p>\n

\n\tSwift now has 182 top 40 Hot 100 hits and her 281 entries overall. The marks are the most among women and second among all acts only to Drake\u2019s 241 and 404, respectively.<\/p>\n

\tSwift\u2019s Latest No. 1 as a Writer & Producer<\/p>\n

\n\tSwift cowrote and coproduced \u201cPatient Zero\u201d with Max Martin and Shellback. She has now cowritten all 16 of her Hot 100 No. 1s and coproduced 10.<\/p>\n

\n\tMartin adds his 31st Hot 100 No. 1 as a songwriter, trailing only Paul McCartney\u2019s 32. Martin tallies his record-extending<\/a> 29th No. 1 as a producer.<\/p>\n

\n\tShellback scores his 13th Hot 100 leader as a writer and 12th as a producer.<\/p>\n

\n\tSwift, Martin and Shellback also co-authored the three Hot 100 No. 1s from her 2014 album, 1989, which Martin and Shellback coproduced. They first led as a writing trio via \u201cWe Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,\u201d which Martin and Shellback co-produced with Dann Huff.<\/p>\n

\tRecord 14 Showgirl Hot 100 Top 10s<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\"Taylor
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Mert Alas & Marcus Piggot\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Life of a Showgirl\u2019s output swells to 14 Hot 100 top 10s, including its original and deluxe versions \u2014 the most ever from an album, surpassing the prior record of 10 shared by the set via its original edition.<\/p>\n

\n\tSwift\u2019s 2022 album Midnights became the first album with 10 Hot 100 top 10s. Swift repeated the feat with 2024\u2019s The Tortured Poets Department. After The Life of a Showgirl matched the mark in its debut week, Drake\u2019s ICEMAN did so this May.<\/p>\n

\n\tHere are the 14 Hot 100 top 10s from The Life of a Showgirl, ranked by peak position:<\/p>\n

No. 1 (10 weeks), \u201cThe Fate of Ophelia\u201d<\/p>\n

No. 1 (one week to date), \u201cPatient Zero\u201d*<\/p>\n

No. 1 (one), \u201cOpalite\u201d<\/p>\n

No. 3, \u201cCleveland!\u201d*<\/p>\n

No. 3, \u201cElizabeth Taylor\u201d<\/p>\n

No. 4, \u201cBabylon\u201d*<\/p>\n

No. 4, \u201cFather Figure\u201d<\/p>\n

No. 5, \u201cPink Clouding\u201d*<\/p>\n

No. 5, \u201cWood\u201d<\/p>\n

No. 6, \u201cWi$h Li$t\u201d<\/p>\n

No. 7, \u201cActually Romantic\u201d<\/p>\n

No. 8, \u201cThe Life of a Showgirl,\u201d feat. Sabrina Carpenter<\/p>\n

No. 9, \u201cEldest Daughter\u201d<\/p>\n

No. 10, \u201cCancelled!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t*from the album\u2019s Encore version<\/p>\n

\n\tMeanwhile, as The Life of a Showgirl, all iterations combined, now includes three Hot 100 No. 1s, it marks Swift\u2019s second album to spin off that many, after 1989 (\u201cShake It Off,\u201d \u201cBlank Space\u201d and \u201cBad Blood,\u201d featuring Lamar) \u2014 the last such set by a woman to do so until this week.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Life of a Showgirl is the first album overall with three Hot 100 leaders since The Weeknd\u2019s After Hours in 2020-21<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\tRest of Top 10: \u2018Choosin\u2019 Texas\u2019 & More<\/p>\n

\n\tElla Langley\u2019s \u201cChoosin\u2019 Texas\u201d backtracks to No. 2 following its record 24 weeks atop the Hot 100. It\u2019s No. 1 on the multimetric Hot Country Songs<\/a> chart for a 43rd week.<\/p>\n

\n\tStella Lefty\u2019s \u201cBoston\u201d falls to No. 6 from its No. 2 Hot 100 peak; Morgan Wallen\u2019s \u201cBeen by Now\u201d slides 3-7, after it debuted at its No. 2 best; Ariana Grande\u2019s \u201cHate That I Made You Love Me\u201d descends 4-8, after it led in its debut week in June.<\/p>\n

\n\tOlivia Rodrigo\u2019s \u201cStupid Song\u201d returns to the Hot 100\u2019s top 10 (13-9), after it hit No. 3 in its debut week in June. It\u2019s up 14% to 11.8 million streams and 12% to 22.2 million in in airplay audience and sold 9,000 physical copies following its release on cassette and 7-inch vinyl, while she kicked off<\/a> her The Unraveled Tour Sept. 25.<\/p>\n

\n\tRounding out the Hot 100\u2019s top 10, Tame Impala and JENNIE\u2019s \u201cDracula\u201d drops to No. 10 from its No. 5 high. It leads the multimetric Hot Dance\/Electronic Songs<\/a> chart for a 39th week and Hot Rock & Alternative Songs<\/a> for a 21st week, as it tops Radio Songs for a second week (62.5 million, essentially even).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Taylor Swift\u2019s \u201cPatient Zero\u201d bounds in at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming her 16th career…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":793007,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[9289,96,10278,128,7213,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-793006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-breaking","tag-entertainment","tag-genre-pop","tag-music","tag-music-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=793006"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793006\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/793007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=793006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=793006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=793006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}