Taylor Swift is set to premiere the music video for her upcoming single ‘Patient Zero’ at the MTV VMAs 2026 this weekend. Watch the preview below.
The pop giant will release the song tomorrow (Friday September 25) as part of an extended ‘Encore’ edition of her latest album, 2025’s ‘The Life Of A Showgirl’.
Today (Thursday September 24) Swift shared a snippet of the dramatic visuals for the track, starring Dakota Johnson and Colin Farrell. We see the singer standing over a bathroom sink in the clip, as well as appearing in a scene with the two actors.
Elsewhere, two grieving characters lay a black rose at the gravestone of a loved one who’s “gone too soon”. Farrell later walks from his car, before Johnson looks distressed in what appears to be a party setting. Another shot finds the pair in a tense moment while Swift watches on.
Swift directed the music video herself, with cinematography by Academy Award-winner Emmanuel Lubezki (The Revenant, Birdman, Gravity).
The star has announced that the full visuals will debut at this Sunday’s (September 27) VMAs, where she’ll receive the inaugural MTV VMA Artist Director Honors.
This year’s ceremony is scheduled to simulcast on MTV and stream on Paramount+ (Premium) in the US. It’ll also be available globally the next day (Monday September 28) on Paramount+ and MTV.
According to People, Dakota Johnson attended Swift and Travis Kelce’s wedding at Madison Square Garden in New York City this summer.
Swift has self-directed numerous past music videos, including for the singles ‘The Fate Of Ophelia’, ‘Fortnight’, ‘Anti-Hero’ and ‘Cardigan’.
She wrote and directed 2021’s All Too Well: The Short Film, too, starring Sadie Sink and Dylan O’Brien. The clip won the awards for Best Longform Video, Best Direction and Video Of The Year at the 2022 VMAs.
❤️🔥 Taylor Swift will debut the music video for “Patient Zero” at Sunday’s @vmas — right here on @cbs.
We’ll reveal an exclusive first look at that video later this morning. pic.twitter.com/qCRm8hMic7
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) September 24, 2026
The singer released the original version of her 12th studio album ‘…Showgirl’ in October 2025. Co-produced with Max Martin and Shellback, the collection contains the hit singles ‘The Fate Of Ophelia’, ‘Opalite’ and ‘Elizabeth Taylor’.
When announcing the imminent ‘Encore’ edition, she wrote: “About a year ago, you guys did a truly unfathomable thing. Something that completely blew my mind… You gave ‘The Life Of A Showgirl’ the biggest first week for an album in history.
“I took a trip to Sweden to celebrate with Max and Shellback, my two collaborators on this album. Really we just wanted to reflect and take in how grateful we were for the moment we were in, but there was a studio there and we did what we do when we feel anything at all: We wrote more songs.”
Swift added: “I hope you love them, because they were born out of pure gratitude for your exuberance for and celebration of the album we made.”
Her post concluded: “‘The Life Of A Showgirl: The Encore’ including four new songs is out on Friday and available to pre-order and save now.”
Some eagle-eyed fans had previously found clues from Swift’s recent Law & Order SVU-themed sketch at the Emmys, highlighting an anagram of the word “encore”. Others noticed that this week’s announcement included 12 exclamation marks, suggesting ‘Patient Zero’ would be a continuation of the ‘…Showgirl’ era.
Since releasing her latest album, Swift has become the youngest female artist to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame, enlisted Graham Norton, Lewis Capaldi, and Cillian Murphy for her ‘Opalite’ music video, and filed to trademark her own voice and image after growing concerns about AI.
In June, the singer shared the nostalgic single ‘I Knew It, I Knew You’ from the Toy Story 5 soundtrack.
She also donated $26million (£19.5million) to 20 charities across the United States ahead of her wedding in New York, and more recently donated $50,000 (£37,000) to a GoFundMe page to help a mother who was hit by a car.
Meanwhile, Swift explained in a recent interview that she feels “more loyal” to her “country roots” than ever. In other news, her lawyers have called Maren Wade’s trademark infringement lawsuit against ‘The Life Of A Showgirl’ “nonsensical”.
