All the Easter Eggs Taylor Swift Dropped Over the Last 7 Months Teasing ‘Patient Zero’

While Taylor Swift may have just confirmed that her new single, titled “Patient Zero,” will arrive on Friday, she’s been cryptically teasing new music for months. Hours after the Grammy winner shared her big music news Tuesday, eagle-eyed Swifties took to social media to highlight the many Easter eggs the singer has dropped in the weeks leading up to the big reveal. This, of course, isn’t surprising given Swift is known for dropping clues about her pending projects well before they launch. Just take a look at what she did for her “Toy Story 5” anthem, “I Knew It, I Knew You,” where she utilized fashion, cryptic billboards and a teasy countdown to build hype for the song at the time. And, months later, Swift utilized a similar campaign to build buzz for her new song, the aforementioned “Patient Zero.” Keep reading for all the Easter eggs you may’ve missed teasing Swift’s new single. Did Swift’s “Opalite” music video have “Patient Zero” clues? Seven months ago, Swift debuted the music video for her “The Life of a Showgirl” song “Opalite,” tapping fellow “The Graham Norton Show” guests Domhnall Gleeson, Cillian Murphy, Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith. While many fans were taken by the star power in the video, others were examining the background to see if any clues could be spotted. Sure enough, several Swifties clocked that a poster in the music video read: “Patient for the encore.” Additionally, in the wake of Swift’s announcement, fans have also highlighted that the scorecards included in one bit of the “Opalite” music video all featured the number zero. Watch the music video for a refresher below. Like for past song releases, Swift made subtle edits to her social media bios and website to indicate that a big reveal was coming. Namely, Swift replaced the letter “O” with zeroes in her bio description: “And, baby, that’s sh0w business f0r y0u.” It didn’t take long for Swifties to notice the change, with several calling out Swift’s sudden emphasis on the number zero. There was also the addition of a countdown clock to her website, which was scheduled to come to an end at 2 p.m. ET Tuesday. Once the countdown got down to zero, Swift announced “Patient Zero.” Did Swift drop clues about “Patient Zero” in her Emmys cameo? This remains unclear, actually. As we previously reported, Swift appeared alongside friend Mariska Hargitay for a pre-taped “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” parody that aired during the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards. In the bit, which called out Swift’s tendency to plant Easter eggs in her material, the singer told Hargitay: “I think what we’re gonna be looking for is hiding in plain sight.” She then looked directly into the camera and said, “Saccharide, Ares, From the Vineyard, North or South.” Fans later suggested this was actually an anagram, resulting in the word: ENCORE. Now, is “Patient Zero” the “encore” fans have been waiting for, or is there more to come? Could be entirely possible, as fans have pointed out that Swift added a third page to her “My Letter” section – though, the contents of this page have yet to be revealed. It seems only time will tell what Swift has in store. “Patient Zero” drops on streaming platforms as well as for purchase through her official merchandise storefront on Friday.