Jessica Simpson Zone

Jessica Simpson Biography

Jessica Simpson Quick Facts Full Name: Jessica Ann Simpson Birthday: July 10, 1980 Born In: Abilene, Texas Height: 5' 3" Weight: 108 Siblings: Ashlee Simpson Married: 10/26/02 Husband: Nick Lachey Albums Sweet Kisses - 11/23/99 Irresistible - 06/5/01 In This Skin - 08/19/03 Rejoyce: The Christmas Album - 11/23/04

Jessica Ann Simpson was born on July 10, 1980 in Abilene, TX and began her career as a Contemporary Christian singer at age twelve, with her first experience rooted in the choir at her Baptist Church. At that time her father, Joe Simpson, a psychologist by trade, also worked as the congregation's youth minister. When Jessica was 13, she sang "I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston and "Amazing Grace" at youth camp, where the owner of a small, Contemporary Christian record label took note of her talents. Jessica worked with his label for three years to produce an album, only to have the company go out of business before it could be released. Her grandmother, Joyce, did pay for a small press to be made and Jessica dropped out of high school and went on tour to promote it (she later earned her GED). Her father became her manager and they sold copies of the album after her performances. She toured in the Christian Youth Conference performing with such names as God's Property, CeCe Williams and Kirk Franklin.

During her early Contemporary Christian days, Tommy Mottola of Columbia Records got his hands on a copy of her amateur album and decided to sign her as a pop singer. Her style has been strictly pop-oriented ever since, and her debut album Sweet Kisses was released on November 23, 1999. It sold 2 million copies in the U.S., and reached #25 as its highest point on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. Her first single I Wanna Love You Forever went platinum, and climbed to the top five on the Billboard singles chart. Her next two singles; Where You Are (with now husband Nick Lachey of 98 Degrees), and I Think I'm in Love with You did reach the top 40 in the U.S., but were not as successful as her first release. She did win two Teen Choice Awards for Choice Breakout Artist and Love Song of the Year for her duet with Nick.

Her second album, Irrisistable, released on June 5, 2001 fared slightly better than her freshman album on the charts. It reached the top 10 on Billboard and the top 20 in Canada, but as far as album sales, it only achieved "gold" status, selling just over 500,000 copies. Once again the first song released, which was also the title track, did moderately well reaching the top 20 in the U.S., but her second single A Little Bit failed to reach any U.S. record charts and got very little radio play. Despite the other "pop star's" success of the day, including Brittney Spears and Christina Aguillera, she did not seem to be keeping up with the crowd in terms of chart success and sales. Because of this, promotion slacked off, and her next effort, a collection of re-mixes called This is the Remix (July, 2002), failed to show up on the charts at all. Even though she appeared on several episodes of That 70's Show around this same time, it didn't seem to boost her popularity or album sales.

After a brief separation from then boyfriend Nick Lachey, Jessica and Nick reunited and were wed on October 26, 2002. MTV jumped at the opportunity to show these two young stars in a real-life setting, and the Newlyweds was born in the summer of 2003. At this point, due partly to the success of reality shows in general, and also because of the couples' dynamic as: beautiful-dumb-blond-pop-princess and macho-boy-band-hottie, the Newlyweds became a hit, and Jessica's career seemed destined to reach true stardom. Rumors then started to spread about her ditzy observations on the show (mainly the episodes where she questioned if Chicken of the Sea is "chicken or fish" and when she asked if buffalo wings were made of buffalo). The audience wondered whether she was really that clueless, or if it was an act for the show- with many leaning towards the latter scenario as being true. Nevertheless, her success began to build, even though her hubby still struggled with his solo career despite the show's exposure. She released her third album In This Skin on August 19,2003. Lyrically and musically, it was much more mature and even though it did not become a smash success, it did better than any of her previous efforts. On March 2, 2004, a special collector's edition of In This Skin was released which helped the album reach #2 on the Billboard 200 and sell over 3 million copies. The second-chance-success of the record was due largely to the growing popularity of the Newlyweds. At its peak, the show boasted an average of 1.4 million viewers each week. In 2005, the show won a People's Choice Award for Favorite Reality Show. A couple of months later, the show wrapped after three seasons. There have been rumors of problems in Nick and Jessica's marriage ever since, although the couple insists it is not true.

Before the show ended in 2005, and still seeking to further her career, she began to capitalize on the success of Newlyweds. On April 11, 2004, she starred in a variety show on ABC called the Nick and Jessica Variety Hour. A pilot for a sitcom was also considered, but then later rejected by ABC in May, 2004. She kept pushing, however and landed the part of Daisy Duke in the movie version of The Dukes of Hazard, which hit the box office in August 2005. The film debuted at number one, and has grossed more than $40 million dollars. Jessica released a single from the movie These Boots Are Made for Walkin' which is her biggest hit to date, peaking at #14 on the charts. It quickly dropped, however, and she did receive a bit of backlash from the religious world because of the content of the video for the song. She is scantily clad in most of it and it ends with her washing the car in a tiny bikini.

Simpson's next album And the Band Played On will be released in early 2006, and will feature a variety of styles with an emphasis on more danceable, club style numbers. She is the executive producer of the album and has contributed much more to the making of it than previous recordings.

Even though her efforts were thwarted when she applied for the Mickey Mouse Club (which starred future greats such as Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguillera) at age 13, she has gone on to release 4 albums, branch out to T.V., movies, and even a line of beauty products called Dessert. It is rumored that she will begin her own clothing line called Princy near the end of 2005, and will have a role in the upcoming movie Room Service.

About The Author:
Amber James is the webmaster of http://www.jessicafanatic.com. Amber is a avid Jessica Simpson fan and has been following her career for many years. This biography may be reprinted in part or in whole as long as this copyright is given.