Anti-Hero

Taylor Swift released "Anti-Hero" on October 21, 2022, as the lead single from her tenth studio album Midnights. The track was written and produced by Swift alongside Jack Antonoff at Electric Lady Studios in New York City, Rough Customer Studio in Brooklyn, and Sound House Studios in Lakeland, Florida. It blends pop rock, synth-pop, and electropop elements, anchored by an 8-bit inspired drum loop generated with a LinnDrum and retro synthesizers. The lyrics explore Swift's insecurities and self-doubt, with the narrator admitting to being her own worst enemy. A surreal bridge depicts a nightmare where her daughter-in-law kills her for inheritance.

The song debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, making Swift the first artist to occupy the entire top 10 of the chart in a single week. All thirteen tracks from Midnights appeared within the top ten positions. "Anti-Hero" held the number one spot for eight consecutive weeks, marking Swift's longest-running number-one single at that time. During its sixth week atop the chart, it accumulated 68.9 million radio airplay audience impressions, 20.9 million streams, and sold 13,000 physical copies in the U.S. By its eighth week, radio impressions reached 88.5 million.

Critical reception praised the track for its infectious melody and raw vocal performance. Critics identified it as a highlight of Midnights and one of the best songs of 2022. The official music video, directed by Swift and released on YouTube on the same day as the single, visualizes themes of anxiety through exaggerated characters, including a doppelgänger version of Swift. The video has garnered over 242 million views and sparked the viral #TSAntiHeroChallenge. Several remixes followed, including versions by Bleachers, Illenium, Kungs, Roosevelt, and Jayda G. [edit]