Jessica Simpson

Pop starlet and actress Jessica Simpson grew up in Abilene, Texas. Her vocal career began at an early age, singing in the choir at Heights Baptist Church - where her father Joe Simpson was the pastor. The budding starlet independently released her first album at 14, a gospel album titled Jessica. Though a commercial failure, the album attracted the attention of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, who offered Simpson a record deal in the late 1990's. Simpson's family thought his offer too good to refuse - Mottola had been responsible for the mainstream success of a number of pop idols, among them Jennifer Lopez and Mariah Carey - so Jessica dropped out of high school at age 16 to begin recording full-time, with her father leaving his calling to act as her manager.

Though Simpson's first two releases - 1999's Sweet Kisses and 2001's Irresistible, which sold over 3 million units combined - were moderately successful, Jessica was generally regarded by critics as a forgettable bubblegum pop act. She produced a number of popular singles in her early years ("I Wanna Love You Forever","I Think I'm in Love with You", "Irresistible"), but seemed perpetually in the shadow of pop tarts like Britney Spears and Christina Aguilara.

Jessica was finally thrust into the spotlight in 2003, when Jessica's marriage to Nick Lachey (formerly of boy-band 98 Degrees) became the subject of an MTV reality show, Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica. The four-season show eventually lead to the couple's divorce in 2006, but not before turning the buxom, bubbly Jessica into a pop culture icon. As a result, Jessica's third major release In This Skin (2003) went on to be phenomenally successful, eventually receiving a Quadruple-Platinum certification from the RIAA. In This Skin produced a number of hits, among them "Sweetest Sin", "With You", and "Take My Breath Away". Jessica's newfound fame did wonders for the career of her little sister, pop-rock singer Ashlee Simpson, who is now married to Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy.

Simpson would go on to release two more Gold certified albums - Rejoice: The Christmas Album (2004) and A Public Affair (2008) - but her career as a vocalist began to take a sideline to her growing career as an actress. She made her first major debut in 2005 as Daisy Duke in The Dukes of Hazzard movie, and has since received roles in a number of comedies, including Employee of The Month (2006) and Knocked Up (2007).

As of 2008, Jessica has been cast to appear in a number of upcoming movies, among them Major Movie Star and The Love Guru. She is currently dating Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, and recently moved to Nashville, Tennessee where she is plans to record a country album, reportedly to be titled Sippin' On History.

From Discogs:

US-American pop singer and actress born 10 July 1980 in, Abilene, Texas, USA. Her first career steps was within contemporary Christian music. She signed with Columbia Records in the late 1990's. She is the sister of Ashlee Simpson.

From Lastfm:

Jessica Ann Simpson (born July 10, 1980 in Abilene, Texas, United States) is a singer, actress, and television personality 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 ventured into the country music market in 2008 and released Do You Know.

Simpson has released five studio albums in her career: Sweet Kisses (1999), Irresistible (2001), In This Skin (2003), A Public Affair (2006) and Do You Know (2008), which sports her new country sound.

In addition, she has also released two EPs: This is the Remix (2002) and Rejoyce: The Christmas Album (2004).

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From Wikipedia:

Jessica Ann Simpson (born July 10, 1980) is an American singer, actress, television personality and fashion designer who rose to fame in 1999. She has achieved seven Billboard Top 40 hits, and five studio albums of which four have been positioned in the top 10 on Billboard 200 and besides that have been certified by the RIAA, three gold and two Multi- Platinum. Simpson starred with her then-husband Nick Lachey in the MTV reality show Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica. She ventured into the country music market in 2008 and released Do You Know. She has sold 20 million records Worldwide. In 2009, Billboard named Simpson as the 95th overall best Artists of the Decade. Also was ranked at number 86 on Billboard 200 Artists, solely based on album sales.