section :// J E S S I C A / biography
        • Official Biography
Jessica Simpson
In This Skin

Listen to Jessica Simpson's In This Skin, and you will hear many things: Love. Romance. Sexuality. Sweetness. Maturity. Peace of Mind. Yet chief among the things you will hear is the sound of a woman becoming her own person and staying true to her heart.

Cowritten by Jessica -- with contributions from Fran Gold, Damon Elliott and Trina Harmon, and production by Ric Wake and Rob Fusari, In This Skin shines a light on a side of Jessica that she's never had the opportunity to let free. "I've been searching my soul for things I wanted to sing about and things I wanted to say and so I came up with this record, "Jessica explains. "When people listen to this record it will make them happy."

That's because the songs on In This Skin reflect the happiness and growth that Jessica has been experiencing. Now married to long time beau Nick Lachey (of 98 Degrees) and firmly in control of her life and creative output, Jessica has reached deep inside to come up with an album that may well be most personal of her career. In This Skin might be Jessica's third collection but, in terms of emotional honesty and stylistic range, it is, in a real sense, the first album that's truly her own. That's because In This Skin marks Jessica's debut as a songwriter and her lyrical and musical influences fuel the album's thematic journeys. "I've wanted artistic control for a long time but in the past I wasn't able to get it," she confesses. "Being in charge of your creative destiny is beautiful for any artist, especially someone like me who wants to sing about positive things and to inspire others. This time I really wanted to make an album that was real and organic and that you could listen to all the way through and maybe be inspired to fall in love or follow your dreams. "

That sense of liberation is abundant on the album's first single "Sweetest Sin." Written by hit maker Diane Warren and produced by Ric Wake, "Sweetest Sin" is unabashedly carnal and, as Jessica notes, a marked change from the giddy teen pop that launched her career. "I'm not dancing around this time," she laughs. "I'm not wearing that head set mic ever again in my life!"

A celebration of love, her marriage, and making love, "Sweetest Sin" signals a new artistic direction for Jessica. "You'll definitely know I'm a woman after hearing this song," she offers. "It's a deeply sensual song but it's also romantic and recording it was one of the most natural things I've done. It's so great to be able to sing about things you're going through because it makes you relate even more to the music which makes that music beautiful."

In This Skin is filled with both beauty and love, with lyrics drawn from personal experiences and journal entries to create an album resonating with a captivating reality. Just listen to the bittersweet ballad "You Don't Have To Let Go." "I wrote that song for my dad," Jessica says. "It was so hard for him to walk me down the aisle and for him to handle the idea that I was getting married and, in his eyes, leaving. So I wrote this song for him about our relationship and all that he sacrificed for me."

"Underneath," an emotional ode to the ups and downs of romantic love, was penned during a turbulent period in Nick and Jessica's relationship when the pair embarked an ill-fated separation. Jessica cites the love and support of her fans as the motivation behind the album's title track's message of determination. Set to a gentle acoustic-laced groove "In This Skin" is, according to Jessica, about "...being comfortable in your own skin, being worthy and feeling beautiful. I wrote in the liner notes that this is for all the fans. I want them to listen to the song and let the lyrics serve as an inspiration."

Inspiration and spirit have always been crucial to Jessica. From the beginning of her career she has aimed to be more than just some cutie pie teen star: she's always invested her songs with positive outlooks and lived her life in a manner that stays true to her beliefs.

Jessica Simpson first made her mark in the world of contemporary Christian music. Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, Jessica was sharing bills with gospel great Kirk Franklin and Ce Ce Winans while still in junior high. Word of the then-teen's phenomenal voice and stage presence soon filtered out of the Christian circuit and, in the late 90's, Jessica signed with Columbia Records. Sweet Kisses, her major label debut, was released in 1999 and spawned the smash singles "I Wanna Love You Forever," "I Think I'm In Love," and "Where You Are." Following the release of her debut, Jessica hit the road, wowing audiences worldwide with her soaring emotion-packed vocals and high-energy stage presence. "It was an amazing time for me," Jessica recalls. "I was 17 and seeing the world, doing what I loved and doing it in a way that felt right."

The title track to Irresistible, her 2001 follow-up, was a crossover smash, charting on the Hot 100 (#15), the Rhythmic Top 40 (#12), Top 40 Mainstream (#3) and Top 40 Tracks (#5).

Since the release of Irresistible, Jessica's been working on her acting résumé. In addition to her recurring role on "That 70's Show," Jessica can be seen in an episode of UPN's "The Twilight Zone." Meanwhile, Jessica and new husband Nick Lachey will share their lives with fans in an upcoming reality TV series on MTV.

But music remained one of Jessica's truest loves and, when it came time to make In This Skin, she was ready for this vital next stage in her career. "I knew the sort of songs I wanted to sing and write," she says. "Songs that are uplifting and real."

With her new album, Jessica Simpson comes into her own as a woman and refines her ever-evolving voice as an artist. Collaborating with a crop of up-and-coming writers and producers, Jessica has created an album that sounds fresh and rings absolutely true. Her message? "It's about love and confidence and loving where I am in my life."

        • Biography
A native of Dallas, Texas, Jessica Simpson has entered the music world in a fashion different from many of her counterparts. Spreading values through her music, praising her family and thanking God for making her who she is, is just the beginning of the differences. Simpson has been blessed with the voice of an angel and we hear it in her first release Sweet Kisses .

Though she lost at an audition at age 12 to become a member of the Mickey Mouse Club, Simpson realized that she wanted to pursue her talent. Constantly listening to the radio while growing up, she had great admiration for Brian McKnight (whom she would love to have a duet with) and Celine Dion and Shania Twain.

Simpson's career began in the gospel choir at her local Baptist church. At age 13, while at a gospel camp, she preformed a cappella arrangement of "Amazing Grace". This lead to the work on her first album of gospel music. Three years later, when that label folded, Simpson began touring on the Christian Youth concert circuit and performing at youth conferences. With the help of her grandmother and father she was able to cut her own album which sold every copy ever made. Major record labels began to take notice of Simpson and she was now performing with Kirk Franklin and Ce Ce Winans.

Signing with Columbia Records for the release of Sweet Kisses , Simpson is proving to be a bright light in today's star studded circuit. After touring with 98 degrees, her popularity soared even higher, even finding a boyfriend in the group's Nick Lachey. Her first release off the album "I Wanna Love You Forever" is a passionate ballad, written and produced by Sam Watters (Color Me Badd) and Louis Biancanella (Mariah Carey).

Says Simpson, "I was determined that I be able to stay who I am if I signed to a non-Christian music labeland when I met with Tommy Mottola (Chairman and CEO, Sony Music Entertainment) he was genuinely impressed with my beliefs and was completely supportive. I remember singing for him and he told me, "you are going to change the world with the power of your heart and your music. When he said that, I knew that I had a home with Sony."

Simpson sings the kind of songs and portrays the image of a star that you won't have to fear your pre-teen daughter listening to. Though she claims to have a friendly relationship with Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears, there is a huge difference in the way their albums are marketed - Simpson's are sold on the basis of abstinence and not sex. She claims to welcome responsibility and propriety. We welcome Jessica onto this sometimes not so responsible or moral music scene.

Written by Erin Boyle

        • Early life
Jessica Ann Simpson (born July 10, 1980) is an American pop singer who rose to fame during the late 1990s. In the following ten years she starred with her then-husband Nick Lachey in the MTV reality show Newlyweds, released her own line of Dessert Beauty and Dessert Treat beauty products and started a career as an actress, while continuing her music career. Her younger sister Ashlee Simpson is also a famous singer.


Simpson was born in Abilene, Texas and raised in Richardson, a suburb of Dallas, Texas. She is the daughter of Joe Simpson (a former Baptist youth minister) and Tina Ann Drew (a former Sunday School teacher). Her younger sister Ashlee launched her own music career in mid-2004. Simpson started singing at the age of 12 in her Baptist church choir. At the same age, she made an unsuccessful application for The New Mickey Mouse Club, which starred fellow pop singers Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake, among other future stars.
Simpson attended J.J. Pearce High School in Richardson, Texas. She was discovered singing at a church camp by a head of a small contemporary Christian record label and 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 in order 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 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 her performances.
Tommy Mottola of Columbia Records obtained a copy of the album and, thinking she had potential as a pop singer,signed her as such.
        • 1999–2002: Pop music beginnings
In late 1999, Simpson released her debut album Sweet Kisses, which reached a peak of number 25 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart and also made the top 40 of the UK charts. The album proved to be a success, selling two and a half million copies in the U.S. Her first single, the platinum-selling "I Wanna Love You Forever," reached the top five of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and the top ten in Canada and the UK. Her second single, a duet with then-boyfriend Nick Lachey of boy band 98 Degrees, "Where You Are", was a modest radio hit. The last single from the album, "I Think I'm in Love with You" (sampling John Mellencamp's 1982 hit "Jack And Diane"), was a top forty hit in the U.S. and a top 20 hit in Canada and the UK. In 2000, Simpson won two Teen Choice Awards for Choice Breakout Artist and Love Song of the Year ("Where You Are"). In 2000, Simpson appeared on the 98 Degrees video My Everything.


Released during the summer of 2001, Simpson's sophomore effort Irresistible reached the top ten of the Billboard 200 and top 20 of the Canadian album chart. Despite this improvement over her debut, the album's sales were less than satisfactory; by late 2001 the album only managed to be certified gold in the U.S. for selling 500,000 copies. In total, to date, the "Irresistible" album has sold a little over 750,000 copies. The title track lead single, "Irresistible", reached the top 20 in the U.S., Canada, and the UK, as well as the top 40 in Australia. A follow-up single entitled "A Little Bit" was also released, but failed to achieve substantial success. The album's third single, "There You Were", a sentimental Adult Contemporary song featuring Marc Anthony failed to make the charts. In 2002, Columbia Records released a EP remix album titled This Is the Remix containing electro-dance remixes of Simpson's biggest hits.
        • 2003–2005: Marriage and career development
On October 26, 2002, Simpson married Nick Lachey. She famously announced that she remained a virgin until her wedding night. During the summer of 2003, Simpson and Lachey's reality show Newlyweds began airing on MTV. Although Simpson was moderately famous before the series began, the show is considered the crowning glory of her career.
Throughout the run of four seasons she epitomized the stereotypical dumb blonde, notably when she asked Lachey whether the Chicken of the Sea tuna she was eating was 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 and reaching a series peak of 4 million viewers. (The gaffe was also a running joke in a Pizza Hut commercial, where she was shown to be annoyed at having her intelligence mocked again.) When introduced to Interior Secretary Gale Norton, Simpson responded: "You've done a nice job decorating the White House". It has been suggested that her ignorance is simply an act she has parlayed into various commercial, television and film endorsements. On the show, Jessica worked alongside assistant Cacee Cobb.
Banking on the success of her new popularity, she appeared on a variety show with Lachey on the ABC Nick and Jessica Variety Hour in 2004. During that summer, Simpson won three Teen Choice Awards for Female Fashion Icon, Hottie Female, and Female Reality/Variety TV Star for Newlyweds. In 2005, the series won a People's Choice Award for Favorite Reality Show and wrapped shortly after.
Simpson's third album, In This Skin, was released during the summer of 2003 to coincide with the premiere of Newlyweds. Though initially the album was not a huge success, debuting at #10 with sales of 64,000 in its first week, it rebounded on the charts when a special collectors' edition was released in April 2004. It subsequently reached a peak of number two on the Billboard 200 and the top 40 of the UK charts, due largely to the success of Newlyweds. The album eventually proved to be her most commercially successful, selling almost three million copies in the U.S.; it also yielded arguably her most successful single to-date, "With You".
Simpson released a holiday album in late 2004 entitled ReJoyce: The Christmas Album, which sold moderately. The album debuted and peaked at #14 on the billboard hot 100 in November of that year and was certified Gold sometime later. During the summer of 2005, Simpson made her first major film appearance as Daisy Duke in The Dukes of Hazzard. The film debuted at number one on the U.S. box-office chart, grossing more than thirty million USD. One of the songs from the film's soundtrack, "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'", was sung by Simpson. The track won a People's Choice Award for Favorite Song from a Movie in early 2006. The controversial video directed by Brett Ratner rose eyebrows in the summer of 2005 with scenes containing Simpson washing a car in a pink bikini causing a backlash from her Christian former fans. During the filming of Dukes, well publicized rumors abound concerning an alleged affair Simpson had with co-star Johnny Knoxville. Knoxville was even queried about the alleged affair during a 2005 appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman.
In November 2005, after months of speculation, Simpson and her husband Nick Lachey officially announced that they had split. Simpson filed for divorce on December 16, 2005, citing "irreconcilable differences". She has asked the courts not to grant Lachey spousal support. The couple's divorce has been highly publicized worldwide. A spokesperson for Simpson told the press on July 1, 2006, that the divorce had been finalized on June 30, 2006. However, the two sides have not come up with a financial agreement thusfar.
The couple sold their Calabasas mansion to Malcolm in the Middle star Justin Berfield for a little over $3.75 million.

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