Does Taylor Swift's "Patient Zero" Sample Hadestown?

Short answer: No sample is credited. "Patient Zero" is credited only to Taylor Swift, Max Martin and Shellback, who wrote and produced it. Fans noticed that a teaser for the song sounded a lot like "Wait for Me" from the Broadway musical Hadestown, but there's no official sample or interpolation credit.

What is "Patient Zero"?

"Patient Zero" is the lead single from The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore, the reissue of Taylor Swift's twelfth album. It came out on September 25, 2026, through Republic Records. The song is about an emotionally abusive relationship. It's No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 right now, as covered in our Hot 100 top 10 for October 17, 2026.

Why do people think it samples Hadestown?

On September 24, a day before release, BroadwayWorld reported that fans heard a resemblance between the song's teaser and "Wait for Me," written by Anaïs Mitchell for Hadestown. The conversation spread fast on Reddit, where some listeners agreed and others said it reminded them of different songs.

Taylor Swift on the Eras Tour, London, 2024. Photo: BrigidLIS via Wikimedia Commons↗ (opens in a new tab) (CC BY 4.0).

Sample vs. interpolation vs. resemblance

• Sample: a piece of the original recording is used. It needs permission from the recording owner and the songwriters.
• Interpolation: the melody or lyrics are re-recorded. It needs permission from the songwriters, who usually get a credit.
• Resemblance: two songs simply sound alike. With only so many notes, this happens often, and no credit is required unless something was actually copied.

Based on the published credits, "Patient Zero" falls into the third group for now.

What should producers take from this?

If your song borrows a melody on purpose, credit and clear it before release. It's cheaper than a dispute later. Our guides on copyrighting your music and music metadata and credits explain how.

More sample stories: Wale's "Conundrum" and TV Girl's "Not Allowed".