Jessica Simpson

Jessica Simpson earned her primary renown as a dance-pop vocalist who surfaced in the late 1990s amid other adolescent performers such as 98°, although she later experimented with cinema, reality television, and contemporary country during the ensuing decade. Born in Abilene and raised in Dallas, Texas, she initiated her stage experience as part of her church choir; at twelve she tried out without success for The Mickey Mouse Club. Discovery by the director of a modest contemporary Christian label occurred the next summer at church camp, after which she devoted three years to laying down tracks for her first album. The label collapsed before any release occurred, yet a limited pressing was financed by her grandmother. Even so, the teenager drew crowds on the Christian Youth Conference circuit, where she appeared on bills alongside Kirk Franklin, God's Property, and CeCe Winans.

To reach secular listeners she eventually secured a contract with Sony and supported the boy band 98° on tour. At the height of teen pop fervor she issued her debut, Sweet Kisses, in 1999. That set produced major hits in “I Wanna Love You Forever” and “I Think I’m in Love with You,” the latter drawing on the chord sequence from John Mellencamp’s “Jack and Diane.” A second studio album, Irresistible, followed in spring 2001. MTV spotlighted its title track, yet the project fell short of the multi-platinum mark achieved by her debut. In 2002 she wed longtime boyfriend and 98° singer Nick Lachey, then made several guest appearances on That ’70s Show. Widespread fame arrived only in summer 2003 once MTV’s Newlyweds began chronicling the opening year of their marriage.

Her third album, the more seasoned In This Skin, arrived in July 2003 to coincide with the program’s popularity. Lead single “Sweetest Sin” posted modest chart numbers, but the show’s momentum kept her trajectory intact. Follow-up track “With You” resonated with MTV audiences, prompting a spring 2004 reissue of In This Skin that added reworked versions of Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away” and Robbie Williams’ “Angels,” plus further footage from the series’ first season. Simpson devoted the balance of 2004 and early 2005 to the second season of Newlyweds while also playing Daisy Duke in the Dukes of Hazzard feature film. Rumors accompanied her late-2005 separation from Lachey, after which she filed for divorce in December 2005.

She next concentrated on her fourth album and took a role in the Dane Cook comedy Employee of the Month. A Public Affair appeared in summer 2006, incorporating sounds that stretched from ’80s new wave to contemporary country. The release earned gold certification, a modest result next to her earlier platinum achievements, and prompted a country reinvention with the 2008 album Do You Know. That project topped Billboard’s country charts yet generated no major singles, leading her to exit Sony Nashville seven months later. Early 2010 was given over to hosting VH1’s The Price of Beauty. That fall Sony released Playlist, her first hits compilation, while Primary Wave Records issued her second Christmas album, Happy Christmas.