For the past three weeks, the same two songs have resided in the top two spots on the Billboard Hot 100: Taylor Swift’s new The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore bonus cut “Patient Zero” and Ella Langley’s historic crossover smash “Choosin’ Texas.” Really, those two artists have been the pace-setters on the Hot 100 for the majority of 2026: “Zero” is Swift’s fourth song to spend at least one week at No. 1 this calendar year (following “The Fate of Ophelia,” “Opalite” and “I Knew It, I Knew You”), while Langley’s “Texas” has reigned for a record-setting 24 weeks.
But next week, a trio of highly anticipated releases from major artists — some packing multiple big names at a time — look to elbow their way into the Swift/Langley bloc, and score the first No. 1 to not come from either artist since Ariana Grande’s “Hate That I Made You Loved Me” topped the chart for its first and only frame on the Hot 100 dated June 13.
The longest-awaited of those is likely Tate McRae’s “Housewife.” The presumed first new single from McRae’s upcoming album era — and her first totally new song release of any kind of 2026, after a particularly packed 2025 — the new single was released with a luxurious new video last Thursday night (Oct. 15). The song generated a lot of discussion for its title conceit — which swerved from trad-seeming expectation to be a statement of independence (“I just wanna make a lot of money/ Be my own housewife”) — and also got an extra bump from a high-profile performance at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show on Sunday night (Oct. 19).
Arriving practically simultaneously with “Housewife” was a new version of Olivia Rodrigo’s “Expectations,” featuring a guest verse from Rodrigo’s pop star buddy (and fellow Daisy Chain Fields performer) Chappell Roan. The remix drew a ton of attention from pop fans due to its sheer unlikeliness — both artists had previously eschewed doing remixes — and for its game show-set music video, which featured a number of big-name cameos, including “Expectations” co-writer/producer Dan Nigro and Talking Heads frontman David Byrne, one of Rodrigo’s many alt-rock heroes (and former onstage collaborators).
And a few hours later (and a little further left of pop stardom’s center), two other artists with highly devout followings also drew signifcant buzz for teaming up on record for the first time. On Friday, powerhouse singer-songwriter Zach Bryan released his new EP Young Manhood and Other Donatable Organs, featuring a special guest turn from a very different kind of Americana superstar: Lana Del Rey, who appears with Bryan on the toxic love duet “Lies.”
Of the three new recordings, “Housewife” has gotten off to the strongest start on streaming services, with the song spending multiple days atop both the Spotify Daily Top Songs USA chart (where it has led since its Friday full-day debut) and the Apple Music real-time chart (where it has traded off with “Lies” on top, but currently reigns). It also has the early advantage at radio, starting with 8.4 million in airplay audience Friday-Monday, according to Luminate. “Expectations” drew 1.3 million, while the airplay for “Lies” has been negligible by comparison.
However, “Expectations” does have one major advantage over “Housewife”: multiple high-performing versions. While the song’s remix is new, the original song is already a minted hit off Rodrigo’s blockbuster third album You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love, having debuted at No. 20 on the Hot 100 and spent 18 weeks on the chart, ranking this week at No. 63. (Performance for the two versions of the song will be rolled up into the same Hot 100 entry.) The Roan-less “Expectations” also received a streaming bump with the release of the remix — as fans no doubt looked to compare versions — surging from No. 33 to No. 12 on Spotify’s Daily Top Songs USA on Friday, while the remix bowed at No. 3.
Speaking of multiple versions, however: McRae has officially released her Victoria’s Secret performance of “Housewife” to DSPs and to iTunes, while also discounting “Housewife” to 69 cents on iTunes, encouraging extra last-minute sales. And following a predictable dip in its streams following its impressive Friday full-day debut, “Housewife” has rebounded impressively on streamers, returning to No. 1 on Apple Music and posting its best day since Friday (2.4 million plays) on Wednesday (2.2 million) on Spotify’s US daily tally.
All of this is likely enough to propel “Housewife” to the best showing next week of the three new releases in question — but will it be enough to get past Swift and Langley?
It definitely has a good chance to get past “Patient Zero,” as the past two weeks of that song’s three-week reign atop the chart were in large part attributable to gigantic sales numbers, spurred by newly released physical singles featuring previously unheard versions of the song. With no such releases arriving this week, its strong performance across metrics, including radio (it’s up 4% in airplay reach in the week’s first four days, as it climbs in the top 15 on Radio Songs), should be enough to keep it in the mix for the top five, but will not likely be enough to keep it at No. 1.
But as it has been for all songs throughout the majority of 2026, “Choosin’ Texas” will be tough to get past. Though some of the new releases have managed to squeeze past it on DSPs and on iTunes, it remains a consistent performer across the board — and on radio, it remains one of the most played songs in the country, ranking No. 2 on Radio Songs the last few weeks, and still climbing in overall airplay audience through the first four days of this tracking week (to 33.6 million over Oct. 16-19). To prove a real threat to “Texas” rebounding to No. 1, “Housewife” will likely need a particularly strong end of the week — which it has been trending towards the past couple days, but with an upward trajectory that can be tough for new songs to maintain so late in their debut week.
Regardless of whether or not it or any of the other new releases do manage to unseat “Housewife” next week, they should provide some much-appreciated new blood to the Hot 100’s top 10 next week. And when combined with still-climbing hits from ADÉLA (“Nicole Kidman”) and Dominic Fike (“Babydoll”), and a likely Halloween-boosted Tame Impala (“Dracula” with JENNIE), they could make for a jam-packed next few weeks on the chart — and perhaps the most exciting pre-holiday season we’ve had on the Hot 100 in some time.