For years one of three identical sisters did the talking for all of them, and her bandmates waited more than a month before telling fans in the millions why she had stopped.
Nicole Taylor, the lead singer of the Nashville-based country trio Taylor Red, died Sept. 28, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn., at 35 after a battle with breast cancer, according to the group’s website.
Her sisters and bandmates, Nika Taylor and Natalie Taylor, announced the death Monday, Nov. 2, in a nearly 11-minute video titled “We Lost Our Triplet Sister Nicole,” posted to YouTube and TikTok. Nicole was the oldest of the identical triplets by minutes.
The Video They Never Wanted
Natalie Taylor said in the video, “This isn’t the video we thought we’d ever be making.” She added, “We are still processing everything. This honestly feels really hard to talk about, but we’re going to do our best in sharing some of her story.”
She continued, “We thought she would be here sharing her story of earthly healing, but instead we’re here sharing her story of heavenly healing.”
Nika Taylor said in the same video, “We honestly thought she’d be healed here on earth, but now she’s healed in heaven.” She also told viewers, “If you know anybody with cancer, there’s so many MRIs, scans, treatments, appointments that you have to go through, and it’s very stressful.”
Natalie described her sister in the video as the one who always spoke on behalf of all three — a fearless leader who had her sisters’ backs and said what she thought was right.
Nika and Natalie also wrote a memorial posted to the band’s website. They wrote that Nicole led them, that she was their closest friend, that she will be greatly missed, and that their heartbreak is carried by their belief that they will see her again in heaven.
A Lump Like a AAA Battery
Nicole Taylor found a lump in her breast in February 2022, and she described it in a 2023 interview with SurvivorNet as “a little AAA battery.” She had a mammogram and an exam, and doctors asked her to return in six months.
The lump had “doubled or tripled in size” by the time she went back, Nicole said. A biopsy confirmed the diagnosis.
A nurse delivered the results by phone while the sisters were out in a public place, Natalie recalled. Natalie broke down in shock. Nicole’s first response, her sisters said, was that God was going to use this for his glory.
Her cancer was stage 3 and aggressive. No one in her family had had breast cancer, and she leaned on her faith and her doctors. She kept up CrossFit between chemotherapy treatments, responded well, and was told when chemotherapy finished that there was no evidence of disease.
The cancer then progressed to stage 4. She restarted treatment after a serious operation. Her prognosis was three months; she lived another year, and during the advancing illness she held down two jobs, kept traveling, made time to enjoy herself and stayed hopeful, her sisters said.
Nicole said in the 2023 interview that she hoped to offer others “some hope and some positivity.” She added, “I definitely believe God has worked miracles through this.”
The Prayer Time Inside Their Birthday
Her aunt started a prayer team three days after the cancer diagnosis, and its members prayed daily at 3:18 p.m. The triplets were born March 18, 1991.
The family has held a private funeral service. A page dedicated to Nicole lists charities she loved, for anyone who wants to give in her name.
From “Country Money” to the Ryman
The triplets came from Mississippi and started making music together in 2010 under the name Red Roots. Their debut album, “Red Roots,” was followed by “The Middle of Nowhere” in 2012 and “Triplicity” in 2014. In 2018, eight years after they began, they renamed the band Taylor Red and eventually settled in Nashville, Tenn.
Their song “Country Money” went viral on social media in 2021, and the audience arrived in a rush after it. Their YouTube channel now has 16.7 million subscribers, built on jokey videos and the chemistry of three lookalike women singing together. The sisters also turned up in a series of humorous commercials for the Sonic fast food chain.
Nicole sang lead while her sisters played banjo, guitar, fiddle and mandolin. All three appeared at “Opry 100: A Live Celebration” at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on March 19, 2025. The three sisters also recorded an episode of the “Hope Ignited” podcast about their music, their creative process and how Nicole’s diagnosis strengthened their bond.