Taylor Swift's 'Patient Zero' sweeps Billboard's global charts

Taylor Swift has swept Billboard's two worldwide song charts with 'Patient Zero'.

The song opens at No. 1 on both the Billboard Global 200 and the Global Excl. U.S. charts dated 10 October 2026, Billboard confirmed. The Global 200 ranks songs by streaming and sales across the world, including the United States; Global Excl. U.S. uses the same method but leaves out American activity. Billboard

The numbers are large. 'Patient Zero' recorded 70.7 million streams and 80,000 sold globally in the week of 25 September to 1 October, according to Luminate, the tracking firm that supplies data for the charts.

'Patient Zero' is one of four new songs on The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore, the expanded edition of Swift's 2025 album The Life of a Showgirl, released 25 September. The other three new tracks fill much of the top 10 with it. On the Global 200, 'Cleveland!' starts at No. 2, 'Babylon' at No. 3 and 'Pink Clouding' at No. 5. Four songs. Four top-five places.

The spread is narrower outside the United States, but all four are still in the top 10. On Global Excl. U.S., 'Cleveland!' opens at No. 6, followed by 'Pink Clouding' at No. 7 and 'Babylon' at No. 8.

What makes this stand out is the tally of chart leads. 'Patient Zero' is Swift's eighth No. 1 on the Global 200, tying BTS for the most since the chart began in September 2020. It is her fifth No. 1 on Global Excl. U.S., which moves her clear of Bad Bunny and Ariana Grande for the most among solo artists. Swift now has 47 top 10s on the Global 200, passing Drake's 45 for the most in the chart's history, and 34 top 10s on Global Excl. U.S., where Bad Bunny is next with 24.

The album is moving with the singles. The Life of a Showgirl, with all versions counted together, returns to No. 1 for a 13th week on the Billboard 200, the U.S. albums chart.

The run follows a busy release week. Swift announced 'Patient Zero' as the next single on 22 September, released it with the Encore expansion, and then premiered a Swift-directed video starring Dakota Johnson and Colin Farrell on 27 September during the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards. The song had already set an early streaming mark, becoming Spotify's most-streamed song by a female artist in a single day in 2026 up to 25 September, and it later gave Swift a U.K. chart double as both the single and the album reached No. 1 there.

Billboard said the charts dated 10 October were scheduled to update on Billboard.com on 6 October.