Tayla Parx

Taylor Monét Parks, known as Tayla Parx, is an American singer, songwriter, entrepreneur, and actress. A two-time Grammy nominee in the Album of the Year category, songs she has written and co-written have exceeded 16 billion streams on Spotify and appeared on the pop, hip hop, R&B, K-pop, country, and Latin charts. She has released four albums, an EP, and a mixtape as a solo artist.

Born in Dallas, Texas, Parx took singing, dance, and classical piano lessons growing up, and wrote her first songs as a child. At 9 she was enrolled at the Debbie Allen Dance Academy, where, at Allen's urging, she began to act. Her family moved to Los Angeles in 2005, and in 2006 she was cast in her first television show. In 2007 she appeared as Little Inez Stubbs in the film Hairspray.

Parx was signed to Warner Chappell Music when she was 19. Her first hit as a songwriter was Fifth Harmony's debut single, "BO$$", In 2018, three of her co-written songs appeared simultaneously on the Billboard Hot 100: "Love Lies" by Khalid and Normani, "Thank U, Next" by Ariana Grande, and "High Hopes" by Panic! at the Disco. In 2021, with Dan + Shay's "Glad You Exist", she became the fourth Black woman to write a #1 country song in the history of the genre's airplay charts.

In 2017, Parx debuted as a solo artist with the mixtape, TaylaMade, It was followed by the full-length albums We Need to Talk (2019), Coping Mechanisms (2020), and Many Moons, Many Suns (2024). She also released A Blue State, a three-song collection of covers, in 2020.

Parx is the founder of TaylaMade, Inc, a company that acts as an umbrella organization for Parx Publishing, a joint venture with Warner Chappell Music; 3020 Management, a management company for artists, writers, and producers; Trailer Parx, a lifestyle brand; Parx Studios, a creative collective; and TaylaMade Records, an independent record label.

Parx was born Taylor Monét Parks in Texas, and grew up in Dallas before moving to Los Angeles at the age of 13. Her mother worked in IT and her father in mortgage underwriting. She sang before she could speak, and as a young child, her grandmother—a pianist—sang lullabies to teach her to harmonize.

Music was a central focus of Parx's upbringing. She sang in church, and took dance, voice, and classical piano lessons. She began writing songs in elementary school. She loved Missy Elliott, who later introduced Parx to songwriting as a profession through her work with Aaliyah.

Planning to concentrate on dance, Parx began attending Debbie Allen's Dance Academy in 2002. Allen was enthusiastic about Parx's talent, and in addition to dancing, she encouraged her to act.