Jessica Simpson Photo Archive

       

About Jessica Simpson

Jessica Ann Simpson (born July 10, 1980) is an American pop singer and actress who rose to fame in the late 1990s. She has achieved seven Billboard Top 40 hits, and has three gold and two multi-platinum RIAA-certified albums. Simpson starred with her then-husband Nick Lachey in the MTV reality show Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica. She has also begun working as an actress, and is the older sister of Ashlee Simpson, a pop rock singer.

1999 saw the arrival of pop princesses Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, who each received multi-platinum certificates. Simpson’s label hoped for the same with her. As 1999 came to a close, Simpson released her first single, “I Wanna Love You Forever,” which peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. Soon afterward her album Sweet Kisses was released. Simpson toured with boy band 98 Degrees to promote her new album. She was given a role in the music video for 98 Degrees’ hit song “My Everything,” playing Nick Lachey’s love interest. At that time she and Lachey began dating. After dating for two years the couple cooled their relationship, stating that the “break” allowed them to concentrate on their music careers. Then on September 11, 2001, Lachey was supposed to be flying out of New York City with his group 98 Degrees. When Simpson heard of the attacks on the nation coming from the airport she immediately phoned Lachey to learn his whereabouts. After this scare the couple rekindled the relationship.

During the summer of 2003, the reality show, Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica, starring Simpson and her new husband Nick Lachey began airing on MTV. Simpson’s third album, In This Skin, was released in August of 2003 to coincide with the series premiere of Newlyweds.

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. “I never knew that just doing the show would give me that pedestal to step on,” Simpson told Blender magazine in a March 2004 feature.

On May 30, 2004, Simpson was chosen to sing the National Anthem at the Indianapolis 500.

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. She thought that platypus was pronounced as platymapus and then wondered whether the correct pronunciation was always platypus or platymapus as well. Her Hollywood brat behavior helped turn the show into a huge hit, with an average rating of roughly 1.4 million viewers, while reaching a series peak of approximately 4 million viewers.

The associated album, In This Skin, debuted at # 10 on The Billboard 200 album chart, with sales of 64,000 in its first week. It rebounded after a special collectors’ edition was released in April 2004 and subsequently reached a peak of # 2. It was eventually certified quadruple platinum. It contained the hits “With You” (# 14, 2004) and a cover of the Berlin song “Take My Breath Away” (# 20, 2004), and a lesser hit, a cover of the Robbie Williams song “Angels”, which charted just outside the Billboard Hot 100.

The couple starred in the television special The Nick and Jessica Variety Hour, which aired in 2004 and was compared to the Sonny and Cher show. Simpson released ReJoyce: The Christmas Album in late 2004, which peaked at # 14 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.

In the summer of 2005, at age 25, Simpson made her first appearance in a motion picture as Daisy Duke in the movie remake of The Dukes of Hazzard.The film was #1 at the box office its opening weekend, although it had little or no competition (the only other new film opening that weekend was a low-budget independent film), and grossed $30.7 million on 3,785 screens. It also had an adjusted-dollar rank of #14 all-time for August releases. The film eventually collected $110.5 million world-wide, although it was much less financially successful outside the U.S.

Simpson also appeared on the film’s soundtrack, releasing “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’”, a cover of the 1966 Nancy Sinatra hit. The song peaked at # 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and won a People’s Choice Award for Favorite Song from a Movie in 2006. The song’s video featured Simpson as Daisy Duke. It contains scenes of her flirting and singing in a bar and then later washing her car in a pink string bikini. In some countries the video was banned for its overtly sexual content.

Simpson attended Richardson, Texas public schools, including Richardson North Junior High and J.J. Pearce High School

On October 26, 2002, at age 22, Simpson married Nick Lachey, and confirmed that she had remained a virgin until her wedding night. Simpson was always vocal since she came into the spotlight that she was saving her virginity until marriage. In November 2005, after months of tabloid speculation, Simpson and Lachey announced they were separating. Simpson filed for divorce on December 16, 2005, citing “irreconcilable differences.” The couple’s divorce was publicized worldwide and was reportedly finalized on June 30.

Simpson reportedly told Jane magazine in October 2006 that she knew her marriage to Lachey was over when he refused to join her on a charity trip to Africa, even though it was on their third wedding anniversary. Questions remain over whether the trip was to celebrate the anniversary, or a PR junket guided by her father/manager, who accompanied her on that day.

The couple reportedly sold their Calabasas mansion in which Newlyweds was filmed to Malcolm in the Middle star Justin Berfield for $3.75 million.

Simpson received increased publicity following her divorce, reportedly having romances with her Employee of the Month co-star Dane Cook and Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine. On February 6, 2007, the Associated Press reported that Simpson said she was stung when her ex-husband jumped back into dating after their high-profile breakup. “Oh, it hurt me,” the 26-year-old singer-actress says in an interview in the March issue of Elle magazine. “Two or three weeks later? Yeah, I’d say it kind of hurt me.” Magazines have also speculated that she was jealous of her ex-husband’s growing stardom and relationship with television personality Vanessa Minnillo, though she has publicly denied this.

Simpson dated John Mayer for over 9 months. Dating rumors started in August 2006 with a People magazine article, but kicked into high gear when Simpson and Mayer spent New Year’s holiday together in New York City, both attending Christina Aguilera’s New Years Eve 2006 party. Reports indicated that the two were publicly very affectionate. In the March 2007 issue of Elle, Simpson said that in her private life she is “begging and pleading for privacy,” but the interviewer did notice emails, videos, and photos of Mayer on Simpson’s laptop. The two were spotted kissing and hugging at a 2007 Grammy after-party, and posed for photos. Simpson also accompanied Mayer for several dates of his 2007 winter tour, before the two departed for Rome. Mayer and Simpson split in May of 2007. On August 17, 2007 Jessica announced that she had broken her nose while on the set of her new film Major Movie Star. She was running with a gun over her head and tripped and fell.