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, an internationally successful pop rock singer and actress.

Early life

She was born Jessica Ann Simpson in Abilene, Texas, the daughter of Tina and Joe Truett Simpson, who was a minister and psychologist. As a child, she began singing at her local Baptist church. At age twelve, Simpson unsuccessfully auditioned for The Mickey Mouse Club. While attending J.J. Pearce High School, she recorded a gospel music album with Proclaim Records. The record company went bankrupt and the album was never released. Simpson left high school at age sixteen (she later earned her GED), and toured the Christian music circuit. After Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola heard one of Simpsons' independent releases, she was signed to the label.

1999-2001: Rise to fame

Simpson released her first single, "I Wanna Love You Forever", which peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2000. Soon afterward her major label debut album Sweet Kisses was released. To support the album, Simpson toured with Ricky Martin and boy band 98 Degrees. Simpson and 98 Degrees group member Nick Lachey began dating shortly afterwards. After dating for two years, the couple cooled their relationship. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, the couple reconciled. Simpson stated, "After 9/11, I knew that I never ever wanted to be away from Nick ever for the rest of my life."

Meanwhile, Simpson's album Sweet Kisses had gone double platinum, helped by follow-up singles "Where You Are" and "I Think I'm In Love With You", which were both released in 2000. The latter became Simpson's biggest radio hit at that point, and was her first release of an uptempo single. Although her debut album sold 2 million copies, sales fell far short of those achieved by Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, and unlike the two pop princesses, Simpson was not a worldwide household name. Columbia Records officials reportedly decided Simpson needed a change for her second album.

In 2001, Simpson recorded a follow-up album with what Columbia considered more radio-friendly, up-tempo tracks. The result in that was Irresistible, released in mid-2001 on the heels of the title-track first single. "Irresistible" became one of the biggest hits of her career; it peaked at # 15 on the Hot 100. Irresistible debuted at #6 in June 2001 on the Billboard 200 Album Chart, and has sold 825,000 copies to date.