Will Taylor Swift Pass The Beatles for the Most Hot 100 No. 1 Hits?
Billboard ·
This week's Five Burning Questions looks at Swift inching ever-closer to the Beatles' benchmark of 20 Hot 100-toppers with this week's "Patient Zero."
With the release of the new quartet of Encore bonus tracks to her 2025 blockbuster The Life of a Showgirl , Taylor Swift picks up another four top five hits on the Billboard Hot 100 — including her 16th career No. 1 on the chart, with the single “Patient Zero.”
“Zero” — which also received a star-studded music video debuted by Swift on MTV, while picking up the first-ever Artist Director award at September’s Video Music Awards — marks her third new No. 1 of the 2026 calendar year (after “Opalite” and “I Knew It, I Knew You”), as well as her fourth total to spend a week atop the chart (also including “The Fate of Ophelia,” in the last two of its 10th weeks at No. 1). Four is also the number by which Swift now trails The Beatles for the all-time record of Hot 100-toppers, with The Beatles’ benchmark of 20 No. 1s having stood unequaled for 56 years.
How does “Patient Zero” fit with Swift’s 15 other No. 1s? And will she pass The Beatles’ historic mark soon enough? Billboard staffers answer these questions and more below.
1. Taylor Swift scores four of the top five spots on the Hot 100 this week with her four new Encore bonus tracks, reaching No. 1 with “Patient Zero” and Nos. 3-5 with the other three tracks. Is this a particularly big deal for Taylor Swift, or just kinda business as usual for the biggest pop star in the world?
Katie Atkinson: Can’t it be both? This is definitely what we’ve come to expect when Taylor puts out new music, but at the same time, we keep talking about how static the Hot 100 top 10 has been lately – so yes, it took a superstar of her caliber to occupy four of the top five spots, but it’s still change! It would be a bigger deal if she didn’t debut directly into the top five with new music like this, so I’m sure Taylor and her team consider every blockbuster release like this as a win.
Hannah Dailey : Definitely business as usual. It’s certainly a major feat for a set of bonus tracks to an album that came out a year ago, but again, there was no reason to expect at this point in Taylor’s career that they wouldn’t chart so highly.
Kyle Denis : Business as usual. It’d be a big deal if “Patient Zero” didn’t debut at No. 1.
Chris Eggertsen : It’s a testament to just how huge Taylor is that this news gets the equivalent of a shrug from me. With the possible exception of BTS, she has the most loyal fanbase of any pop act going, and anything she puts out — even a collection of lackluster bonus tracks, which is what I think these songs amount to — is all but guaranteed to explode on impact. Frankly, it would have been a shock if all four new tracks hadn’t debuted in the top 5.
Andrew Unterberger : It’s business as usual, and business is good.
2. The No. 1 is the third new Hot 100-topper Swift has scored this calendar year, and fourth total (counting the final two weeks to date at No. 1 for “The Fate of Ophelia”) — the first such year of Swift’s career, and first for anyone since Rihanna in 2010. Does this feel like that kind of massive/ubiquitous year for Taylor, or does that stat feel surprising?
Katie Atkinson: My first instinct was to say that it doesn’t feel like a ubiquitous Taylor year, but how insane does that sound considering she’s been atop the Hot 100 with four different songs? I think the biggest difference is comparing it to her 2023-24 years, when she was crisscrossing the world on The Eras Tour while also dropping Taylor’s Version re-releases and new music simultaneously. Basically, Taylor redefined the word “ubiquity” during that period and conditioned her fans to expect new music and appearances almost constantly. Now, even though she’s had a potent year, she’s taken prolonged (you know, like a month or two) breaks in between. (She also got married this year, and we still haven’t seen a single photo of her or Travis from the wedding day. For Taylor, that’s called “laying low.”)
Hannah Dailey : Neither? The way we think of a No. 1 hit is so different than it was in 2010, plus we’re so used to seeing Taylor dominate commercially that it’s hardly shocking to hear this stat, even if I wasn’t fully cognizant of the volume of songs she’s had go No. 1 this year. Still very impressive, though! That’s Taylor Swift for you.
Kyle Denis : It absolutely does not feel like that kind of ubiquitous year for Taylor — at least musically. She’s obviously been omnipresent between the MSG wedding, the reign of “Ophelia” at the top of the year, and the incredibly early start of her Oscars FYP campaign for the Toy Story 5 soundtrack hit “I Knew It, I Knew You,” yet these specific songs still somewhat feel like footnotes to her overall celebrity. This just doesn’t feel like 2014-2015 ( 1989 era), when Taylor felt like one of, if not the biggest pop star on the planet because she was cranking out hits that truly lived and thrived beyond the lore-locked walls of her fanbase. And these four No. 1s certainly don’t hold a candle to the ones Rihanna notched in 2010; let’s be serious.
Chris Eggertsen : I actually am a little surprised by this stat given that Showgirl very much feels like a 2025 phenomenon to me. That’s probably my own bias, though, as I was put off by the album almost immediately (I prefer her Antonoff/Dessner-produced output to the more straightforward pop sound of her Max Martin collaborations). Clearly, though, Showgirl ’s momentum lasted well into 2026, with “Opalite” peaking at No. 1 in late February. I must admit that I’d also forgotten about “I Knew It, I Knew You,” which I blew right past this summer (I was probably busy listening to Olivia Rodrigo).
Andrew Unterberger : It certainly isn’t the year I would have guessed to be Swift’s first with four separate No. 1s. They still don’t quite combine to total ubiquity, though — it’s worth noting that even with four separate songs spending time at No. 1, she’s still only spent six weeks total on top this year so far; last year she spent eight weeks in pole position with “Ophelia” alone.
3. “Patient Zero” is her first bonus or deluxe-edition track to debut atop the listing — do you think it’s a worthy addition to her career list of No. 1s?
Katie Atkinson: Of these four new songs, it’s definitely the one that gets trapped in my head, and I think the subject matter and its narrative music video fit in perfectly with Swift’s catalog. Having said that, my all-time favorite Swift bonus track, “New Romantics” from 1989 – a song I still can’t believe wasn’t included on the standard album – only ever peaked at No. 46 on the Hot 100. Is it too late to boost that perfect bonus track to No. 1 as well? I wouldn’t put anything past the Swifties…
Hannah Dailey : Again, the way we think of hits is so different now. Do I think “Patient Zero” is worthy compared to “Willow” or “Fortnight”? Sure. Compared to “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” or any of the O.G. 1989 No. 1 singles? I definitely wouldn’t put them in the same league. Those were songs that felt far more inescapable in their time and generally took more time to climb up the chart to the top spot. Now, it’s simply the tracks that Taylor designates as lead singles – and puts first on her tracklists, making them the first ones that fans press “play” on when checking out a new project – that go No. 1. It’s not a question of better vs. worse, or more impressive vs. less. It’s just different. Kyle Denis : “Patient Zero” is a fine song that honestly deserves more credit for not completely falling apart after that hideous bridge.
Chris Eggertsen : Not really. “Patient Zero” is pleasant enough while it’s happening and then dissipates immediately after the song ends. Comforting the victim of a former partner’s romantic callousness is fine as a concept, and the central metaphor works as far as it goes, but Taylor doesn’t really take it anywhere interesting lyrically. It also features more of the same speak-singing she’s used effectively in the past, but which is starting to feel a little lazy at this point (truly the last adjective I ever thought I’d apply to Taylor Swift).
Andrew Unterberger : I like “Patient Zero” a good amount, but its title strikes the wrong note and some of its chorus lyrics land flat, which I imagine will ultimately end up keeping it out of the all-time canon of Taylor Swift pop mashes.
4. Of the other three new bonus tracks — “Cleveland!,” “Pink Clouding” and “Babylon” — which is the most interesting to you?
Katie Atkinson: Definitely “Babylon.” Fans are of course having a field day decoding the lyrics and who or what Taylor’s talking about, and I zeroed in on this line in particular: “You’re using nostalgia as a weapon to hurt yourself/ But darling, you end up hurting everybody else.” Swift’s music is often nostalgic and wistful, or it looks back on what went wrong in the past and calls out things that should have gone differently. So it’s interesting to hear her singing to someone about using nostalgia as a weapon when it’s been one of the most frequently deployed tools in her toolbox. Maybe she’s speaking to herself here — or maybe she feels like she only uses nostalgia responsibly. Whatever the case may be, it’s an especially compelling one to revisit, because, well, I “love this song.”
Hannah Dailey : “Babylon” is such a great story with a beautifully executed narrative arc, but I’d have to say “Pink Clouding.” I’ve always loved #HiddleSwift (IYKYK), and my favorite category of TS songs might be the ones where she takes the blame for a relationship ending.
Kyle Denis : Interesting in a bad way? “Cleveland!” Interesting in a good way that actually excited me for where Taylor could go next sonically and lyrically? “Babylon.”
Chris Eggertsen : “Pink Clouding” is I think the most compelling of the four, if only because it’s self-reflective. That’s far more interesting to me than a “haters gonna hate” kiss-off like “Cleveland!” Admitting that you were careless with a former love interest’s feelings — nay, that you actually got a high from leading them on — is the kind of self-appraisal I appreciate, even if the songwriting itself is B-grade Taylor at best.
Andrew Unterberger : I kinda dig “Cleveland!” It’s definitely the most interesting of the four songs to me sonically, with a lush ’00s indie sound that seems like a totally new musical reference point for her. Maybe her and Travis were listening to a lot of Sufjan Stevens at his parents’ place over the holiday season?
5. The new No. 1 brings Taylor to 16 career Hot 100-toppers — four away from The Beatles’ still-unmatched all-time mark of 20. Do you think she passes them? And if so, around when would you predict she gets No. 21?
Katie Atkinson: Oh she absolutely will surpass this record. Even though she had three new ones this year, that’s not a sustainable pace, so my prediction is 2029. Maybe it will be for Toy Story 6 .
Hannah Dailey : Of course she’ll pass them. I bet she’ll get that 21st No. 1 sometime at the end of the decade, before the ball drops on 2030 – and if I’m wrong, it’s because she did it even sooner.
Kyle Denis : Yes, Taylor will pass The Beatles — and likely make the eternal conversation about comparing stats from different Hot 100 eras go nuclear. I’d honestly be shocked if she didn’t at least tie them by the end of the decade.
Chris Eggertsen : She will absolutely pass The Beatles — I’m going to predict within the next four years. Taylor is nothing if not relentless in her craft, so I don’t anticipate a slowdown anytime soon. She charted her first Hot 100 No. 1 in 2012, with “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.” In the 14 years since, she’s racked up an average of at least one No. 1 single every year, though the pace of those No. 1s accelerated dramatically this decade, in large part thanks to the Taylor’s Version re-releases and the resurgence of “Cruel Summer” a few years back. A conservative estimate of one new Taylor studio album every other year, each with at least one No. 1 single, plus a release of the promised Taylor Swift (Taylor’s Version) re-recording, perhaps some Reputation vault tracks, and maybe even another soundtrack song, would put her ahead of The Beatles by 2030.
Andrew Unterberger : Yeah, I feel like part of the reason we’ve gotten so many Swift No. 1s this year is because she sniffs that the all-time mark is within reach (which it certainly is). If she continues at this general pace — and at this point there’s no remaining reason to assume she won’t, until she actually doesn’t — I’d be a little surprised if she didn’t get there by 2028, honestly.