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The news, and what's likely next.

Culture

Taylor Swift premiered her Patient Zero video at the Video Music Awards

Taylor Swift premiered her music video for Patient Zero on September 27 at the Video Music Awards, starring Colin Farrell and Dakota Johnson. On September 25, the track drew 13,709,109 Spotify plays, setting a 2026 single-day record for a female artist.

How we got here

  1. Taylor Swift announced the upcoming release of her song "Patient Zero." Eonline
  2. Swift announced an expanded edition of her work featuring four new songs. Pitchfork
  3. "Patient Zero" and three other new songs were released, setting a single-day female artist streaming record. Yahoo
  4. "Patient Zero" debuted at No. 1 on the global chart with 13.709 million streams. Ratingsgamemusic
  5. Swift's "Patient Zero" music video, starring Dakota Johnson and Colin Farrell, premiered at an awards show. Billboard, Pagesix

What's likely next

  1. A September 27 report relayed an early estimate of about 178,000 U.S. album-equivalent units for The Encore’s opening week and a possible return to No. 1 on the Billboard 200; this was a projection, not a final chart result.

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