Will Taylor Swift Pass The Beatles for the Most Hot 100 No. 1 Hits?
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."
As Taylor Swift's new album The Life of a Showgirl releases an Encore bonus track quartet, the singer claims four additional top-five positions on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Among these, her latest single "Patient Zero" secures the coveted No. 1 spot, bringing her total career wins on the chart to 16. This marks her fourth No. 1 of the 2026 year, following "Opalite" and "I Knew It, I Knew You," in addition to the first-ever Artist Director award she received at the September Video Music Awards for the accompanying music video.
With the Beatles holding the all-time record of 20 Hot 100 No. 1 hits since 1958, Swift now trails them by four in this historic tally. Billboard's staff reflects on the significance of Swift's achievement, with some viewing it as expected business as usual for the pop icon, while others highlight the rarity of such a feat in the contemporary music landscape.
Written by urgent.news from Billboard's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
