Taylor Swift breaks 2026 Spotify record with ‘Patient Zero'

Taylor Swift has kicked off the next chapter of her The Life of a Showgirl era with a major streaming milestone.

On September 25, Patient Zero became Spotify’s most-streamed song by a female artist in a single day in 2026 so far, according to Spotify.

The achievement was announced after the release of The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore, an expanded edition of Swift’s 2025 album featuring four new songs: Patient Zero, Cleveland!, Pink Clouding and Babylon.

READ MORE: Taylor Swift ‘Patient Zero' hidden nod to Travis Kelce or Joe Alwyn?

As usual, the 14-time Grammy winner’s rollout came with a trail of clues.

On September 22, she altered the spelling in her Instagram bio, replacing the letter “o” with the number 0.

The following day, she announced The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore, confirming that the new song would be part of the four-track expansion.

On September 24, she teased a cinematic music video for the song featuring Dakota Johnson and Colin Farrell.

A 13-second preview showed Swift and Johnson in mysterious scenes, including imagery around a gravesite, while Farrell also appears in the visual.

READ MORE: Taylor Swift ‘Patient Zero' connection with ‘Verity' explained

Swift directed the video, which is scheduled to premiere during the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards on September 27.