Swift and Langley Hold the Top Two Spots on the Hot 100

Taylor Swift's "Patient Zero" and Ella Langley's "Choosin' Texas" have held the top two spots on the Billboard Hot 100 for the past three weeks, according to Billboard. The Hot 100 is the main U.S. singles chart. It ranks songs using sales, streaming and radio airplay.

Swift's track is a bonus cut, meaning an extra song added after an album's release. It comes from The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore. "Patient Zero" debuted at No. 1 earlier this month, and it is Swift's 16th career No. 1 on the Hot 100. It is also her fourth song of 2026 to spend at least one week at the top, after "The Fate of Ophelia," "Opalite" and "I Knew It, I Knew You."

Langley's "Choosin' Texas" has now spent 24 weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100, according to Billboard. The song also reached No. 1 on the U.K. Singles Chart, and Billboard named it its No. 1 song of the summer for 2026. Earlier this month, Langley broke Swift's record for the most weeks at No. 1 by a woman on Billboard's Country Songwriters chart. Before the two of them took over, the last No. 1 not by either artist was Ariana Grande's "Hate That I Made You Loved Me," which topped the chart dated June 13.

Several new releases are now fighting for attention below them. Tate McRae put out her single "Housewife" on Oct. 15, 2026, with a music video. The track has led Spotify's Daily Top Songs USA chart since its full-day debut on Friday. Luminate, the data company that tracks listening, reports that "Housewife" began with 8.4 million in radio airplay audience from Friday to Monday. The term means the estimated number of listeners reached by radio stations. McRae performed at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show on Oct. 19. Her first Hot 100 No. 1 came in 2025, with the Morgan Wallen duet "What I Want."

Olivia Rodrigo has also released a new version of her song "Expectations," with a guest verse from Chappell Roan. That version drew 1.3 million in radio airplay audience over the same Friday-to-Monday period, per Luminate. Rodrigo has four No. 1 hits on the Hot 100.

Zach Bryan released the EP Young Manhood and Other Donatable Organs, a short collection of songs. It features Lana Del Rey on the duet "Lies." Bryan earned his first Hot 100 No. 1 in 2023 with "I Remember Everything," a duet with Kacey Musgraves.

Billboard's new music guide this week puts Rodrigo, Roan, McRae and Bryan at the front of its list, and its Best New Music poll features McRae, Rodrigo and Roan. Those lists are editorial picks, not chart positions, so they sit apart from the sales and streaming counts that decide the Hot 100.

For the moment, the chart is a crowded one. Two songs from different corners of pop and country sit at the top, while a wave of new releases keeps arriving underneath. Each of those chart positions is built from the listening of a great many people, one play at a time.