Taylor Swift has returned to the top of the UK charts with a double that adds another milestone to her record-setting 2026. The Encore edition of The Life of a Showgirl sends the album back to No. 1 on the Official Albums Chart, while “Patient Zero” debuts at No. 1 on the Official Singles Chart.
The timing makes the achievement even more notable. The Life of a Showgirl returns to the summit exactly one year after its original October 3, 2025 release, giving Taylor Swift her fifth non-consecutive week at No. 1 and making it the second album in her catalog to reclaim the top spot on its first anniversary, following The Tortured Poets Department.
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“Patient Zero” becomes Swift’s eighth UK No. 1 single and her third chart-topper of 2026. The song follows “Opalite” and “I Knew It, I Knew You,” the latter from the Toy Story 5 soundtrack, marking the first calendar year in which Swift has collected three UK No. 1 singles.
The result also gives Taylor Swift a particularly strong showing across the Singles Chart. “Cleveland!” and “Babylon,” both from The Encore, debut at No. 3 and No. 4 respectively, placing three of Swift’s songs inside the week’s Top 5. “The Fate Of Ophelia,” the original album’s lead single, also climbs from No. 14 to No. 10.
With “Patient Zero” joining “The Fate Of Ophelia” and “Opalite,” The Life of a Showgirl becomes Swift’s first album to generate three UK No. 1 singles. The original album had already made history upon release, opening with 423,000 chart units in October 2025 and becoming Swift’s 14th UK No. 1 album, as well as the biggest opening for an international album in the UK this century.
Swift’s relationship with the Official Charts has now reached another level of consistency. She has achieved the Official Chart Double — simultaneously topping the Albums and Singles charts — five times with different album-and-single pairings, doing so in every calendar year since 2022.
Her album total remains particularly significant. With 14 UK No. 1 albums, Swift holds the record for the most chart-topping albums by a female artist in Official Albums Chart history, beginning with Red in 2012. The Life of a Showgirl became her 14th when it first topped the chart last year, and The Encore now gives the project another week at the summit.
The album’s original chart campaign was already unusually dominant. During its opening week, Taylor Swift occupied the entire UK Singles Chart Top 3 with “The Fate Of Ophelia” at No. 1, “Opalite” at No. 2 and “Elizabeth Taylor” at No. 3. One year later, the expanded edition has reopened that chapter with another wave of chart activity.
“Patient Zero” also extends a run that began with “Look What You Made Me Do,” Swift’s first UK No. 1 single in 2017.
Photo: Taylor Swift/X
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