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Born July 10, 1980 in Abilene, Texas
July 10, 1980
Simpson was born in Abilene, Texas. She began singing at her local Baptist church. She auditioned for the Mickey Mouse Club and made it to the finals at the age of twelve. She attended J.J. Pearce High School, but dropped out around the age of sixteen. Simpson signed with Columbia Records in 1998.
First Single "I Wanna Love You Forever" Released
September 28, 1999
Simpson released her first single, "I Wanna Love You Forever," which peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2000. Soon afterward her album Sweet Kisses was released. Simpson toured with boy band 98 Degrees to promote her new album.
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. But 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.
Marries Nick Lachey
October 1, 2002
On September 11, 2001, former boyfriend Nick 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. They married the following year.
Newlyweds Premieres
August 19, 2003 - March 30, 2005
During the summer of 2003, the reality show, Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica, starring Simpson and her then-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.
Sings National Anthem at the Indy 500. Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!
May 30, 2004
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.
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 & Cher Show. Simpson released Rejoyce: The Christmas Album in late 2004, which peaked at #14 on the album chart and was later certified gold.
Jessica Plays Daisy in "The Dukes of Hazzard"
August 5, 2005
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
Christian Criticism
December 1, 2005
Simpson received criticism from a Christian group calling itself "The Resistance", for the sexualized image she used in the music video for "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'". In response, Simpson stated, "It didn't really surprise me because I grew up with a lot of that backlash. That's why I didn't end up going into the Christian music industry. I think that if they're really good Christians the judgment wouldn't be there.
Album #4: A Public Affair Released
August 29, 2006
Simpson then returned to the recording studio, switching labels from Columbia to Epic Records. Her fourth album, A Public Affair, was released on August 29, 2006 via Epic Records. The album debuted at #5 on the Billboard 200 with 101,000 copies sold in its first week. The first single, "A Public Affair" (#14, 2006), reached the Top 20 of the Hot 100 but quickly fell off the charts. The music video for "A Public Affair" featured Eva Longoria, Christina Applegate, Christina Milian, Maria Menounos, Andy Dick and Ryan Seacrest. A second single, "I Belong To Me," was also released through her website and is now included on the CD itself. The single's video appeared on TRL countdowns, but quickly fell off.
Employee of the Month, and Blonde Ambition
October 6, 2006
Simpson's second film, Employee of the Month, was released October 6, 2006. With poor reviews, the film took in $11.8 million in its opening weekend, debuting at #4 just behind Open Season.
Simpson's third film, Blonde Ambition, was released in December 2007 playing on limited theaters in Texas. After failing to gain interest, it was released on DVD the following month.
Ooops! Jessica Botches An Important Performance
December 1, 2006
In December 2006, while performing a tribute to Dolly Parton at the Kennedy Center Awards, she botched the lyrics, getting flustered in front of a crowd that included prominent persons such as Steven Spielberg, Shania Twain, and President George W. Bush. Afterward, during the final tribute to Parton, Parton's "biggest fan" Reese Witherspoon and her second cousin Jessica Savelli gave a tearful Simpson a comforting hug. Though Simpson was given the chance to redo the song for cameras, ultimately her portion was edited out of the CBS broadcast.
Donates Car Won at 2006 MTV Awards to Orphanage
March 1, 2007
Simpson is Operation Smile’s International Youth Ambassador. In March 2007 Simpson donated a new Chrysler minivan to the Elim orphanage in Nuevo Laredo. Simpson had won a Chrysler Crossfire sports car at the 2006 MTV awards, but exchanged the $50,000 luxury car for a minivan so she could help the orphanage. She had first visited the orphanage as a child as part of her youth group mission. She has also mentioned that she has plans to adopt.
Simpson Dating Cowboys quarterback, Tony Romo
November 1, 2007
In November, 2007, Simpson began dating Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo. They celebrated Thanksgiving together at Simpson's grandparents' home in Waco Texas. The relationship has come under scrutiny recently when she was blamed for Romo's poor football performances as exemplified by a December game in which the Cowboys lost to the Philadelphia Eagles. Some of the Cowboy's fans have given her the nickname Yoko Romo in comparison to Yoko Ono who many Beatles fans blame for "ruining" John Lennon. This is further fueled when the Cowboys lost to the Giants in the divisional playoffs, when Romo & Simpson went on a trip during the Wild Card game bye week. FOX broadcaster Terry Bradshaw called into question Simpson and Romo vacationing in Mexico.
"If only Tony had called me and said, 'Terry, Jessica [Simpson] and I are going to go to Mexico,' I would've told him: 'You crazy? Don't do that! The paparazzi is going to find you, man. You're a star. She's a star. It's just going to happen,' " Bradshaw said in an interview with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram
