Taylor Swift Scores 16th Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 With ‘Patient Zero’

Taylor Swift has added another major milestone to her record-breaking career, scoring her 16th No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with her latest single, “Patient Zero.”

The track, accompanied by a star-studded music video that Swift premiered on MTV, becomes her fourth Hot 100 chart-topper of 2026. It follows “Opalite,” “I Knew It, I Knew You” and “The Fate of Ophelia.”

Swift is now just four No. 1 singles away from matching The Beatles’ long-standing record of 20 Hot 100 chart-toppers.

The Beatles began their historic run in 1964 with “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and went on to collect 19 No. 1s before reaching the top for the final time with “The Long and Winding Road” in 1970.

Billboard has suggested that Swift could eventually surpass the group’s record, pointing to her remarkable consistency on the chart. She earned her first No. 1 in 2012 with “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” and has continued to add chart-toppers throughout her career.

Swift released her 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, in October 2025. Last month, she followed it with the expanded deluxe edition, The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore, which features four additional tracks.