Taylor Swift has another No. 1. Patient Zero, the lead single from The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore, debuted at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 this week, becoming the 16th chart-topper of her career, according to Variety and Rolling Stone.

In doing so it ended one of the most remarkable runs in recent chart history: Ella Langley's Choosin' Texas, which had spent a record 24 weeks at No. 1.

Patient Zero by the numbers

Variety reports that Patient Zero claimed the No. 1 spot in its first week out. Choosin' Texas slipped just one place to No. 2. Swift then holds the next three positions, with Cleveland! at No. 3, Babylon at No. 4 and Pink Clouding at No. 5, all new tracks from The Encore.

That means Swift has four of the top five songs in the country. Variety lists the rest of the top 10 as Stella Lefty's Boston at No. 6, Morgan Wallen's Been by Now at No. 7, Ariana Grande's Hate That I Made You Love Me at No. 8, Olivia Rodrigo's Stupid Song at No. 9, and Tame Impala and Jennie's Dracula at No. 10.

The records Swift just tied or extended

With 16 No. 1s, Swift moves a little closer to the only two acts with more, according to Variety: the Beatles with 20 and Mariah Carey with 19.

Variety also reports, citing Billboard, that Patient Zero gives Swift 10 songs that have debuted at No. 1, a figure she now shares with the previous solo record holder, Drake.

Rolling Stone adds that it is her fourth chart-topper of the year, after The Fate of Ophelia, Opalite and I Knew It, I Knew You. That makes her, per Rolling Stone, only the second female solo artist after Rihanna to earn four Hot 100 No. 1s in the same calendar year. It is also the third single from The Life of a Showgirl era to reach the top, and Rolling Stone notes that The Fate of Ophelia became her longest-running No. 1 earlier this year, with nine weeks.

On the albums chart, The Life of a Showgirl returned to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for a 13th cumulative week, Variety reports, with Billboard and Luminate counting the original and the expanded Encore edition as one album.

What Patient Zero is about

According to Rolling Stone, the song imagines an ex's new partner calling for advice. Swift told Capital FM that it is written "from the perspective and the side of the phone call of the ex who's been through it before."

The video arrived in an unusual way. Rolling Stone reports that Swift premiered the cinematic music video at the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards a couple of days after The Encore came out, and that, like the videos for The Fate of Ophelia and Opalite, it was not immediately available on YouTube. Rolling Stone links that to YouTube's decision to withdraw its data from the Billboard charts after changes to the charts' methodology.

Rolling Stone also notes that The Encore received a mixed response from fans online and from critics, which makes the scale of its chart debut all the more striking.

Can Choosin' Texas keep its record?

Ella Langley's song still holds the record for the most weeks at No. 1, but Variety points out that the coming weeks could get interesting. Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas Is You usually climbs back to No. 1 in December, which could eventually help it overtake Choosin' Texas, unless Langley returns to the top for more weeks first.

Variety also suggests Patient Zero has a strong chance of a second week at No. 1, since physical singles preordered by fans were due to ship this week, and those sales would count in its second chart week.

FAQ

How many Hot 100 No. 1s does Taylor Swift have?

Patient Zero is her 16th No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Only the Beatles, with 20, and Mariah Carey, with 19, have more, according to Variety.

Which song did Patient Zero replace at No. 1?

It replaced Ella Langley's Choosin' Texas, which had spent a record 24 weeks at No. 1 and fell to No. 2.

What album is Patient Zero from?

It is the lead single from The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore, the expanded edition of Swift's 12th studio album, which also includes Cleveland!, Pink Clouding and Babylon.

Cover photo: Glenn Francis (Toglenn) / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0