Nicole Taylor, one of Christian country band Taylor Red's identical triplets, has died. The singer and musician succumbed to breast cancer on Sept 28 in Nashville, Tennessee. She was 35.
"We are shocked and heartbroken to announce the passing of our sister Nicole Taylor. This isn't the video we thought we'd ever be making," Natalie said in a video posted to YouTube.
Nika continued, "We thought she would be here sharing her story of earthly healing, but instead we're here sharing her story of heavenly healing, and she's at peace and no longer suffering, so we're thankful for that."
The surviving sisters explained that Nicole was diagnosed in 2022 with Stage 3 breast cancer.
Treatment put the disease into remission, but it returned as Stage 4 cancer. Eventually, doctors said Nicole had three months, Nika recalled in the video with Natalie revealing, "She lived around a year later after that prognosis."
In between telling their sister's story, Nika and Natalie read Bible verses they turned to in their grief.
"Nicole told us even before she passed that she had peace, and we were really thankful for that," Natalie shared.
Nika continued, "Yes, things did not turn out as we hoped. We lived every day expecting full miraculous healing here on Earth and lived every day in hopes of that. Of course, we all had our moments of fear and doubt, but we fought it and fought it. And God gave us so much peace and hope in him along the way. We were so shocked and still shocked of her passing."
The Mississippi natives are also known for their social media presence, with 16.7 million subscribers on YouTube and 13.5 million followers on TikTok.
The sisters created viral videos capitalising on their red-haired identical-triplets identity.
Using humour and social trends, the sisters filmed themselves wearing matching outfits, dancing in sync or playing instruments, including the guitar, banjo, fiddle and mandolin.
They appeared in a national Sonic Drive-In commercial and also partnered with major commercial brands, including Crocs, Lipton, Skittles, Redken and Frito Lay.
Country Money, released in 2021, became one of the band's most well-known songs with more than 810,000 streams on Spotify, while Rent Free has surpassed 664,000 streams.
Fresh Off The Farm, Bringing Country Back and What They Seem each have over 345,000 streams on the music site.
Nicole was also a Taste of Country morning radio show host. In a tribute on the country music-focused website, her colleague Evan Paul related the story of first meeting Nicole and her sisters and his later interactions with her at the media outlet.
"Nicole was such a warm soul. She was so smart and so talented that it was hard to even share a room with her. Her light was so bright. I am convinced that when you see a star shooting across the sky at night, it's Nicole giving us a wink and letting us know she's all right," Paul said.
"Nicole, the oldest of us three sisters, will be greatly missed," Nika and Natalie posted on their official site. "She was our leader and our best friend. We are heartbroken, but we know she is in Heaven and will see her again." – Los Angeles Times/Tribune News Service
