By Variety | Created at 2026-10-05 19:25:44 | Updated at 2026-10-05 23:01:54
5 hours ago
At least for one week, America finally chose differently when it came to the nation’s most consumed song. Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” took a breather from its record-breaking run atop the Billboard Hot 100 to make room for Taylor Swift‘s “Patient Zero,” which claims the No. 1 spot in its first week out, to no one’s surprise.
Swift released four new tracks going into the chart week, all part of her “The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore” project, and all of them bowed in the uppermost rans of the Hot 100. Following the Langley song, which fell just one slot to No. 2, Swift owns the next three positions, with “Cleveland!,” “Babylon” and “Pink Clouding” landing at Nos. 3, 4 and 5, respectively.
“Patient Zero” becomes her 16th No. 1 song on the chart, and puts her a little closer to overtaking the only two artists who can claim more, the Beatles with 20 and Mariah Carey with 19.
Billboard reported that she has also tied a record with this No. 1 bow. With this, she has 10 songs that have debuted at No. 1, a figure she now shares with the former solo record-holder, Drake.
News of Swift topping the Hot 100 comes one day after it was reported that “The Life of a Showgirl” returned to the No. 1 position on the Billboard 200 album chart for the first time since January. That album now has 13 cumulative weeks in the top position there. (Billboard and Luminate count all versions of the album — the original and the newly expanded “Encore” edition — as one.)
The rest of the Hot 100’s top 10 is rounded out by 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.
Swift stands a strong chance at having a second week at No. 1. Bolstering that likelihood: Fans who preordered physical copies of “Patient Zero” just got a notice that their singles are shipping this week, which means those sales will count in the song’s second charting week.
For chart watchers wondering whether Ella Langley can hold on to her record for the song with the most weeks at No. 1, versus relinquishing it back to Mariah Carey, the coming weeks hold some suspense, as to how “Patient Zero” might affect that. Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” is highly likely to reascend to No. 1 for a couple of weeks or more during the month of December, as it usually does, so it could overtake “Choosin’ Texas”… unless Langley is able to get some more insurance weeks in at the top of the chart between Swift’s song falling off and Carey’s coming back up.
