Taylor Red Singer Nicole Taylor Dies at 35 After Battle With Breast Cancer

Nicole Taylor, lead singer and multi-instrumentalist for the identical triplet country trio Taylor Red, died on Sept. 28 in Nashville, Tennessee, at the age of 35 following a four-year battle with breast cancer.

Triplets Move to Nashville to Launch Music Careers

Born on March 18, 1991, in Wade, Mississippi, Nicole grew up alongside her identical triplet sisters, Nika and Natalie. The siblings eventually relocated to Nashville to establish their professional music careers, writing hundreds of songs together and performing more than 1,000 concerts across North America and in Norway. The group originally formed under the name Red Roots in 2011, releasing an eponymous debut album that same year, followed by The Middle of Nowhere in 2012 and Triplicity in 2014. The latter earned a Dove Award nomination for Country Album of the Year. In 2018, the siblings rebranded as Taylor Red, shifting their focus toward mainstream country music while maintaining their foundational Christian faith. Over their career, they opened for prominent country acts including Charlie Daniels, Amy Grant, and Diamond Rio.

Trio Builds Massive Digital Following Through Viral Videos

Variety reported that the trio found a distinct secondary audience by using digital platforms, with synchronized performances, musical covers, and comedy sketches building a large following. In 2020, Variety featured Taylor Red in an industry report examining how female country and pop groups utilized TikTok to build audiences outside traditional Nashville industry channels. Their visibility surged in 2021 when the track “Country Money” became a viral hit on TikTok and Spotify. The group accumulated substantial followings, maintaining 16.7 million subscribers on their YouTube channel, where they shared lifestyle content, prank videos, food tastings, and relatable sibling moments.

Sister Battles Stage 4 Breast Cancer After Initial Diagnosis

Nika and Natalie Taylor shared a video on YouTube and Instagram announcing their sister’s death and detailing her medical history. Nicole was diagnosed with an aggressive form of stage 3 breast cancer in 2022. Although she initially responded well to chemotherapy and achieved a period with no evidence of disease, the condition eventually progressed to stage 4. Doctors gave her a prognosis of approximately three months after the disease advanced. Despite the terminal diagnosis, Nicole maintained her physical routines, continuing a CrossFit regimen during her chemotherapy treatments and attempting to travel and work without living in fear. “After she asked the doctors her prognosis, they said it was around three months, and if the treatments worked they didn’t know how long after that,” her bandmates stated in their video. “She said ‘everyone is going to face judgement and I’m ready to.'”

Tributes and Private Services

Nika and Natalie remembered Nicole, who was older than her sisters by minutes, as their fearless leader and closest confidante. “Nicole, the oldest of us three sisters, will be greatly missed,” Nika and Natalie said in a statement on the group’s website. “She was our leader and our best friend. We are heartbroken, but we know she is in Heaven and will see her again.” The family held a private funeral service in honor of Nicole. In lieu of flowers, the family encouraged supporters to make donations in her memory to Samaritan’s Purse, one of her preferred charities.

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