Jessica Ann Simpson (born July 10, 1980 in Abilene, Texas) is an American pop singer and actress who rose to fame in the late 1990s. She has so far achieved 7 Billboard Top 40 hits and has five gold and two multi-platinum RIAA certified albums. She also starred with her then-husband Nick Lachey in the MTV reality show Newlyweds and released her own line of beauty products. She also began a career as an actress and is the older sister of Ashlee Simpson, also a popular singer.
Simpson started singing in her Baptist church choir. In 1992, at age 12, she made an unsuccessful audition for The New Mickey Mouse Club, that also starred future pop stars Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake.
She attended J.J. Pearce High School in Richardson, Texas and was discovered singing at a church camp by a head of a small contemporary Christian record label. She recorded an album over the next three years; however, the label folded before the record could be released. She dropped out in her senior year to tour and promote her demo album, which was funded by her grandmother, Joyce (thus the reason for the name of her 2004 holiday album, Rejoyce: The Christmas Album). She later earned her GED. During this time, she also toured with the Christian Youth Conference circuit performing with Kirk Franklin, God's Property and CeCe Winans. She and her father sold copies of the album after these performances.
Tommy Mottola of Columbia Records later obtained a copy of the album and, thinking she had potential as a pop singer, signed her to a recording contract.
Simpson performing in May 2002.In late 1999, Simpson’s debut album Sweet Kisses was released on the Columbia Records label. The album peaked at #25 on the U.S. Billboard 200 album chart and was eventually certified double platinum. It contained the platinum-selling pop ballad "I Wanna Love You Forever," (#3, 1999) which reached #3. Her second single, "Where You Are" was a modest radio hit with then-boyfriend Nick Lachey of the boy band 98 Degrees.
A third single, "I Think I'm in Love with You" (#21, 2000) sampled John Mellencamp's 1982 hit "Jack And Diane" and became her third U.S. Top 40 hit. In 2000, Simpson won two Teen Choice Awards for Choice Breakout Artist and Love Song of the Year ( for "Where You Are"). In 2000, Simpson appeared in the 98 Degrees video My Everything.
In the summer of 2001, Simpson released her second album, Irresistable which peaked at #6 on the Billboard 200 album chart and was certified gold. The lead single, "Irresistible" (#15, 2001) reached #15 in the U.S. and a second single, "A Little Bit" was also released, but failed to achieve comercial success. A third single, "There You Were", a sentimental Adult Contemporary song featuring Marc Anthony also failed to make an impact on the charts. In 2002, Columbia Records released a EP remix album called This Is the Remix that contained electro-dance remixes of Simpson's biggest hits but sales were disappointing.
On October 26, 2002, at age 22, Jessica Simpson married Nick Lachey. She famously announced that she had remained a virgin until a week before her wedding night.
During the summer of 2003, the reality show, Newlyweds, starring Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey began airing on MTV. Though she was moderately successful before the series began, the show quickly became a pop culture phenomenon and is credited with making her a household name, even among those who did not follow pop music or MTV. Later that summer, Simpson won three Teen Choice Awards; Female Fashion Icon, Choice Hottie Female, and Female Reality/Variety TV Star for Newlyweds.
Throughout the run of four seasons, Simpson epitomized the stereotypical dumb blonde, most notably when she asked Lachey whether the Chicken of the Sea tuna she was eating was in fact chicken or fish. She also indicated that she believed that buffalo wings were made from actual buffalo. Her ignorance helped turn the show into a huge hit, making the average rating for each episode about 1.4 million viewers while reaching a series peak of about 4 million viewers. When introduced to Interior Secretary Gale Norton, Simpson responded: "You've done a nice job decorating the White House".
It has often been suggested however, that her ignorance is simply an act that she has managed to successfully transform into various successful commercial, television and film endorsements.
Simpson's third album, In This Skin, was released in August of 2003 to coincide with the series premiere of Newlyweds. It debuted at #10 on The Billboard 200 album chart with sales of just 64,000 in its first week. It rebounded after a special collectors' edition was released in April of 2004 and subsequently reached a peak of #2. It was eventually certified triple platinum, fueled largely by the couple’s television success on Newlyweds. It contained the hits “With You” (#14, 2004) and a cover of the Berlin song “Take My Breath Away” (#20, 2004).
Simpson at the first military-base showing of The Dukes of Hazzard (2005).The couple appeared in the television special The Nick and Jessica Variety Hour that aired in 2004 and drew comparisons to Sonny and Cher. Simpson released ReJoyce: The Christmas Album in late 2004 which peaked at #16 on the album chart and was later certified gold.
In 2005, Newlyweds won a People's Choice Award for Favorite Reality Show before wrapping shortly after.
Name: 1Real Name: Jessica Ann SimpsonHeight 5' 3"Birthday: July 10, 1980City of Birth: Abilene, TexasFansites
