Taylor Swift sets Spotify records with surprise ‘Patient Zero’ release

Released on Friday, The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore features four new songs — “Patient Zero,” “Cleveland!,” “Pink Clouding” and “Babylon.” All four tracks landed in the top four of Spotify’s Daily Global chart following their release.

“Patient Zero” became the most-streamed song by a female artist on Spotify in a single day in 2026. Swift also became the most-streamed female artist on the platform in a single day this year.

The new release is an expanded edition of Swift’s 2025 album The Life of a Showgirl. Swift previously revealed that she recorded the four additional songs with longtime collaborators Max Martin and Shellback during a trip to Sweden.

According to Swift, the songs came from a studio session that followed a trip to Sweden to celebrate the success of the original album. She said the new tracks were created out of gratitude for the response to The Life of a Showgirl.

“Patient Zero” is the lead track from the expanded release. Swift is also set to unveil its music video during the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards on September 27. The video stars Swift alongside Dakota Johnson and Colin Farrell and was filmed by Oscar-winning cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki.

 - MaT