Sarah Maria Taylor Is the Daughter of Famous Parents Carly Simon and James Taylor

Sarah Maria Taylor is from a family highly regarded by music lovers from the boomer generation and beyond. Despite their early health challenges, Sarah and her brother have kept an unspoken family heritage alive in pursuing a career in the arts.

Sarah Maria Taylor is multi-faceted, standing tall as a singer-songwriter and activist. She released her first project in 1999, in a year that was jam-packed with touring and a few performances with her famous family members.

She is the only daughter of hitmakers of the 1970s and 1980s, James Taylor and Carly Simon. Her parents have significantly influenced her life, seeing she followed in their footsteps. However, there are many layers to look at regarding their marriage.

Sarah Maria Taylor's Parents Are Both Famous Musicians

Sarah is born into a family of famed musicians. Her parents are both highly accomplished in music and legendary in their own right. Sarah's father, James, is one of the most revered singer-songwriters of all time and is credited with being at the forefront of the singer-songwriter movement in the 70s.

Carolyn Dennis's ex-husband, Bob Dylan, has been credited for bringing introspective or confessional poetry to folk rock. Still, Sarah's father took it to another level, penning the truth of his life in every song he wrote. Mental institutions greatly influenced Sarah's father's life while growing up, and he voluntarily checked in twice.

The first time was in his teen years, and the second was to fight off a heroin addiction that was hindering his life. Still, James became a legend in the arts, winning many awards, including a collection of Grammys. "Fire and Rain" off his 1970 "Sweet Baby James" album is said to be the spark to his reign in music.

Sarah's mother, Carly, comes from a musical background, born to a father who co-founded Simon & Schuster publishing house and played the piano—undeniably influencing his daughter's life. Her mother, Sarah's grandmother, was an invested activist during the civil rights movement.

Carly is a singer-songwriter, just like her husband, with an additional career as a children's book author. She was hot property as a musician in the 1970s, releasing several hit songs like "Anticipation," "You're So Vain," and "Mockingbird" featuring her husband.

Credit to the extensive work she's put into attaining many accolades and hit records, Sarah's mother was inducted into the Songwriter Hall of Fame in 94 and drafted for induction into the Rock Hall of Fame last year.

Sarah Maria Taylor's Parents' Marriage Collapsed as Her Father Was Heroin Addicted

Sarah's parents were involved in what was a fairytale romance until it wasn't. Her mother saw James on a cartoon-style poster in 1971 and, without hesitation, told her sister that she would marry the "Fire and Rain" hitmaker—a statement that aged like wine, as they began dating in 1971 and exchanged vows on November 3, 1972.

Sarah's parents were hot in the music industry in the 1970s. Their nuptials in 1972 compounded their popularity and deemed them a musical power couple. Sarah was born in 1974 and remained the only child for three years. Her birth was not graceful; she was delivered through a C-section three weeks after the preordained delivery.

Sarah's father was present throughout her mother's pregnancy and did not tire in the face of a shrieking woman in labor. He stood by her side, pretending to be a seagull flying over a Menemsha beach. James wrote "Sarah Maria" in the hospital and left after Sarah's birth to perform the song in a New York club that night.

Sarah became a sister on January 22, 1977, when her parents welcomed Ben Taylor, who also pursued a singer-songwriter career. Ben was born nine pounds and two ounces. Carly revealed that the doctor joked that he would be a football player if he were a girl due to his broad shoulders popping out during childbirth.

He was born a huge baby, healthy regarding weight but not so regarding his kidney. Ben was diagnosed with a dysplastic kidney by age three; luckily, this issue could be resolved with surgery. His parents booked an appointment with a kidney specialist and set a date for June that year.

Sarah's parent's relationship fell apart after eleven years. "Our Love became bipolar, switching from love to hate, lust to loathing, and back again, sometimes within a day," Carly explained. She was unaware of the extent to which James was addicted to heroin and discovered how much he relied on it during their marriage.

Aside from the wedge James's drug addiction drew between himself and Carly, his affair with a background dancer, Carly called Evey, added to the feud. Sarah's parents have been separated for almost 40 years, but her mother said, "I still want to heal him; I still want to make him all right."

Despite the clear distance that James has placed between himself and Carly, she admitted that she still loves him so much. She also mentioned that writing her book "Boys in the Trees" taught her that love is not necessarily reciprocated.

Sarah Maria Taylor Became a Musician as Her Parents

Sarah reportedly had dyslexia in her youth. Without pity, her family of artists welcomed her condition and took it as an indicator that she was indeed one of them—leaning into the suggestion that her diagnosis made her an artist.

To help, Sarah's mother played a game called Essences, where the player who keeps a person on their mind gets asked metaphoric questions like 'if the person in your mind was an animal, what animal would they be?' and 'if they were a house, what type of house would this person be?'

The aim is that the answers would provide clues for the other players vying to guess who's on player one's mind. Her performance in the game—in which she thrived—spoke volumes about her ability to decode the meaning of words and sentences. Sarah later studied at Browns University, where her interest in the human experience piqued.

Sarah took an interest in music, obviously knowing all about the art through her Hall of Fame parents. By 1999 she became a published musician performing with the name Sally Taylor in her three-member band. She released her debut project that year titled "Tomboy Bride."

Sarah played in three national tours in 1999, hitting the stage over 150 times, and performed with her brother and parents on a few of the tours' dates. She also performed with her father in 2007 at one of Senator Hilary Clinton's benefit events.

Sarah Maria Taylor's Family Life Is No Secret for Public

Sarah is now focused on her non-profit project, Consenses, which brings together musicians from all over the world to recreate each other's art in their own way. The project is somewhat of a collaborative artistic game of broken telephone.

Sarah is now a wife and parent with her husband, Dean Bragonier, the 'Founder and Executive Dyslexic' of NoticeAbility. A non-profit organization founded in 2015 to help dyslexic students find confidence in their difference.

She married her Dean in 2003, making this year her 20th year in marriage. Sally often shares photos of her family on Instagram, including a post where she described her husband as an "adventurous, smart, charming, funny, passionate man."

On October 4, 2007, Sarah and her husband welcomed their son, Bodhi Taylor Bragonier, who made James and Carly grandparents for the first time. Much like his mother, Bodhi arrived after the prescribed date of delivery.

On October 4, 2021, Bodhi was surrounded by his loved ones who were present to celebrate his 14th birthday. Sarah shared a photo from the event calling him 'Bodacious' in the caption.

Although there has been growth in the Taylor family and the families associated, Carly mourns the loss of her sisters, whose cancer-induced deaths came one day apart.