Ashlee Simpson

Although she shares a sibling tie to the famed Jessica Simpson, Waco, Texas native Ashlee Simpson carved out separate musical preferences and aesthetics from the start. A lifelong music enthusiast, she earned the distinction at age eleven of becoming the youngest student accepted into the School of American Ballet. The family’s relocation to Los Angeles when she turned fourteen placed her onstage as a dancer in her older sister’s productions. Appearances on Malcolm in the Middle and The View opened the door to a recurring part on Seventh Heaven, yet her focus remained fixed on a recording career. Her composition “Just Let Me Cry” appeared on the Freaky Friday soundtrack in 2003, after which she kept refining her rocking and punky demos during production breaks from the series. Those recordings caught the ear of Geffen, which launched her debut album Autobiography in 2004 at the same moment MTV premiered her reality series. The project entered the Billboard album charts at number one, selling 398,000 copies in its first week. Her second album, I Am Me—likewise produced by John Shanks—followed in October 2005. After touring in support, she took the role of Roxie Hart in the London run of Chicago. April 2008 brought the announcement of her engagement to Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz, along with the release of her third album Bittersweet World and its singles “Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)” and “Little Miss Obsessive.”