Carly Simon and James Taylor’s Kids Sally and Ben Have Followed in Their Musical Footsteps: Where They Are Now
The music legends share two talented children who've carved their own paths
Key Takeaways
- Carly Simon and James Taylor were married in 1972 and split up in 1983.
- While together, they welcomed a daughter and a son, Sally and Ben Taylor.
- Sally and Ben have collaborated with their mom on her upcoming album.
On August 14, Carly Simon is set to release her brand new album, Comes in Waves. Her first album of original music in nearly two decades, the upcoming body of work is special for a lot of reasons, but it’s her collaborators that set this one apart. On Comes in Waves, Carly teamed up with her children, Sally and Ben Taylor, whom she shares with “Fire and Rain” singer James Taylor.
Simon has gotten candid about motherhood over the years. In a 2007 interview with Family Circle reported by People, she revealed one of her favorite bedtime traditions from their childhood. “I’d brew some herbal tea and carry it to their bedroom, where Japanese music would be playing. They’d drink out of tiny teacups and we’d snuggle together in bed, where I’d read aloud to them until they fell asleep.”
Here, read all about her two children, their upbringing, and Carly’s split from their father, James Taylor.
Meet Sally Taylor, Carly Simon’s daughter
Born in 1974, Sally is the older of the two, and over the years, she’s maintained a close bond with her mother. Unsurprisingly, she followed in her parents’ musical footsteps, and Sally opened up to Next Tribe about the support her mother gave her upon making the decision to pursue the craft.
“When I knew I wanted to make music, she helped allow me to find my own process and my own way [as a singer and performer],” she shared. As far as what she’s learned from her mom, Sally explained, “I think I did pick up her vulnerability and openness. Growing up with her, I didn’t know that privacy was something people were innately privileged to have. I thought everyone told everything about themselves like mom did.”
In addition to being a musician, Sally is a wife, a mother, and has dipped her toes in various areas of the arts, even founding Consenses. Experiencing the world through a unique lens due to having dyslexia, the organization invites “hundreds of professional artists together from around the world—of every medium and genre—asking them to interpret one another’s artwork in the vein of a game of Telephone,” explains its site.
Ben Taylor, Carly’s younger son
Carly and James’ son Ben was born in 1977, and he, too, followed in his parents’ footsteps, pursuing music as a career. In 2011, he opened up about joining the family business, telling Parade, “My dad let me know that it’s a blue-collar job, that the glamour of it is largely created by the media. So I knew what I was getting into.”
In Carly’s conversation with Family Circle, she opened up about the way Ben and Sally would fight as kids. “Since Sally is three years older than Ben, she always bossed him around–until one day he fought back. He actually slapped her on the back, and they both ended up crying. For the first time he felt empathy for her, and she realized they were equals. They’ve been close ever since.”
Why did James Taylor and Carly Simon divorce?
Taylor and Simon tied the knot in 1972, but in 1983, they went their separate ways, with factors like infidelity and addiction impacting their split.
“I saw his picture on the cover of TIME magazine when I was walking home with my sister and I said, ‘I’m gonna marry that man.’ And that really happened,” she told People in 2015. “And I thought, ‘How did I know?’ Probably every other girl in the world was hoping for the same thing. Why did it happen to me? Was it predestined? Why did it happen that I’m still living in this house which was his?”
Despite their breakup being decades ago and the duo no longer speaking, James still holds a special place in Carly’s heart. “I still want to heal him; I still want to make him all right. And I love him so much.”
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