Jessica Simpson

"I want people to fall in love with my voice before my image."
-Jessica Simpson

biography

Jessica Ann Simpson was born in Dallas, Texas, on July 10, 1980 and grew up in the small town of Richardson. Her life was textbook happy and included her father Joe, who was a psychologist and also served as youth minister in the local Baptist church.

With this background, it was only normal for young Jessica to participate in church activities and so she sang in the choir. Such was her gift that at the age of 12, she auditioned for The Mickey Mouse Club.

When she reached the finals, she froze and choked completely. Unfortunately, she didn't get the job. The celebrities that did make it onto the show include Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake. Nevertheless, the experience served as an important life lesson for Jessica.

jessica simpson gets signed

She returned to Richardson, Texas and bit into the Christian music she had been brought up with. Before long, the small Proclaim Records label noticed her voice and offered to record an album. She recorded a number of gospel songs but just as the label was angling for a release date, it went bankrupt.

Not about to give up in the face of adversity, her father Joe (now her manager) took his daughter on the road, where they worked the Christian Youth Conference circuit. Jessica sang and then sold her home-recorded album after performances. This was a winning formula and while she was still in junior high, Jessica was performing with famous gospel acts like Kirk Franklin and Ce Ce Winans.

Word spread about Simpson and her record sold like hotcakes. More importantly, it wasn't only Christian music fans who got into her music; pop lovers everywhere were being charmed by her voice. This was just the encouragement Jessica needed to pursue a middle-of-the-road pop music career.

Sure enough, news of Jessica's success reached important people in the industry. Tommy Mottola of Columbia Records/Sony Music was one of them and he was stunned by Simpson's voice and skills.

jessica simpson releases sweet kisses

Mottola believed she had the talent to reach mainstream audiences. Still, Jessica made it clear that she would only be onboard if she could maintain her identity. Luckily, Mottola understood what she believed in and supported her decision.

After signing up with the music giant, her debut album Sweet Kisses was released in 1999, giving way to the singles "I Wanna Love You Forever" and "I Think I'm In Love With You." She then hit the road and showed audiences worldwide what the Jessica Simpson craze was all about.

She joined boy band 98 Degrees on its tour and it didn't take long for her to fall in love with one of its members, Nick Lachey. Their budding romance only helped the release of their duet, "Where You Are," off Sweet Kisses.

In June 2001, her sophomore album Irresistible was released. The title track was a smash hit and it went as high as No. 3 on the Top 40 Mainstream chart. After some remixes, her third album In This Skin was released in August 2003. However, Jessica Simpson's life was about to take a drastic turn.

jessica and nick on newlyweds

After a short breakup, Jessica and Nick finally got married in October 2002 (which meant that they could finally consummate their union) and the celebrity marriage was rejoiced in gossip columns everywhere. As a result, MTV offered the couple a reality show based on their everyday life as a couple, much like The Osbournes.

The deal was struck and August 2003 marked the debut of Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica. Although the show overshadowed Simpson's new album, it became an incredible hit and it was picked up for a second and a third seasons.

Since the world can't seem to get enough of their goofy antics, the couple was offered a TV variety special reminiscent of The Sonny and Cher Show.

jessica simpson is daisy duke

Around the time of her marriage to Nick, Jessica appeared in three episodes of That '70s Show (between 2002 and 2003) as Kelso's (Ashton Kutcher) love interest.
She also appeared on The Twilight Zone in 2002, all of which led the way for her 2005 big-screen debut wearing sexy "Daisy Dukes" in the film version of The Dukes of Hazzard (costarring Johnny Knoxville and Seann William Scott). The film coincided with the release of Jessica's remake of Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made For Walking." In 2006 she went on to appear in Dane Cook's hilarious film Employee of the Month.

At the dawn of Jessica's budding film career she and Nick filed for divorce, which was finalized in June 2005 on the basis of irreconcilable differences. But considering the success of her career since and with the release of her fourth album, A Public Affair (2006), there's no doubt that she's headed for bigger and better things. We'll just keep our fingers crossed and hope that she doesn't decide to shave her head and go on a rampage with an umbrella.