Jessica Simpson

Jessica Ann Simpson was born in Abilene, Texas, on July 10, 1980, and grew up in the small town of Richardson. Her life was textbook happy and included her father Joe, who was a psychologist and also served as youth minister in the local Baptist church (he later went on to not only become Jessica's manager, but her sister's manager as well).

With this background, it was only normal for young Jessica to participate in church activities and so she sang in the choir. Such was her gift that at the age of 12, she auditioned for The Mickey Mouse Club.

When she reached the finals, she froze and choked completely. Unfortunately, she didn't get the job.

jessica simpson and tommy mottola

She returned to Richardson, Texas, and bit into the Christian music she had been brought up with. Her father Joe (now her manager) took his daughter on the road, where they worked the Christian Youth Conference circuit. Jessica Simpson sang and sold her home-recorded album after performances. This was a winning formula and while she was still in junior high, Jessica was performing with famous gospel acts like Kirk Franklin and Ce Ce Winans.

It wasn't only Christian music fans who got into her music; pop lovers everywhere were being charmed by her voice. This was just the encouragement Jessica needed to pursue a middle-of-the-road pop music career. Sure enough, news of Jessica's success reached important people in the industry. Tommy Mottola of Columbia Records/Sony Music was one of them and he was stunned by Jessica Simpson's voice and skills.

jessica simpson's sweet kisses

Mottola believed Jessica Simpson had the talent to reach mainstream audiences. Still, Jessica Simpson made it clear that she would only be onboard if she could maintain her identity. Luckily, Mottola understood what she believed in and supported her decision.

After signing up with the music giant, her debut album, Sweet Kisses, was released in 1999, giving way to the singles "I Wanna Love You Forever" and "I Think I'm In Love With You." She then hit the road and showed audiences worldwide what the Jessica Simpson craze was all about.

Simpson joined boy band 98 Degrees on its tour and it didn't take long for her to fall in love with one of its members, Nick Lachey. Their budding romance only helped the release of their duet, "Where You Are," off Sweet Kisses.

In June 2001, her sophomore album Irresistible was released. The title track was a smash hit and it went as high as No. 3 on the Top 40 chart. After some remixes, her third album In This Skin was released in August 2003. However, Jessica Simpson's life was about to take a drastic turn.

jessica simpson on mtv's newlyweds

After a short breakup, Jessica and Nick finally got married in October 2002, and the celebrity marriage was rejoiced in gossip columns everywhere. As a result, MTV offered the couple a reality show based on their everyday life as a couple, much like The Osbournes.

The deal was struck and August 2003 marked the debut of Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica. Although the show overshadowed Jessica Simpson's new album, it became an incredible hit and it was picked up for second and third seasons.

Since the world couldn't seem to get enough of their goofy antics, the couple was offered a TV variety special reminiscent of The Sonny and Cher Show.

jessica simpson in the dukes of hazzard

Around the time of her marriage to Nick, Jessica Simpson appeared in three episodes of That '70s Show (between 2002 and 2003) as Kelso's love interest. She also appeared on The Twilight Zone in 2002, all of which led the way for her 2005 big-screen debut wearing sexy "Daisy Dukes" in the film version of The Dukes of Hazzard (costarring Johnny Knoxville and Seann William Scott). The film coincided with the release of Jessica Simpson's remake of Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made For Walking." In 2006, she appeared in Dane Cook's film Employee of the Month.

jessica simpson in a public affair

At the dawn of Jessica Simpson's budding film career she and Nick Lachey filed for divorce, which was finalized in June 2005 on the basis of irreconcilable differences. On the heals of her divorce, she released her fifth album, A Public Affair, in 2006.

jessica simpson is no. 47 on 2008 top 99 and no. 70 in 2009 top 99

In 2006, Jessica Simpson started dating musician John Mayer and they were together for over nine months. The couple hooked up at Christina Aguilera's New Year's Eve party and were spotted months later as affectionate as can be at a post-Grammy bash. They split up in May 2007. And in November 2007, Jessica Simpson began dating Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo.

She signed on to take the lead in two 2008 movies -- The Love Guru and Major Movie Star -- and although both of those movies were critically panned, she has stayed true to her music roots and released a country album, Do You Know.

Do You Know has become a hit on the country charts, but during her tour supporting the album she started getting criticized in the tabloids for having gained weight. What started out as a petty observation escalated into a full-on media battle, leading to numerous emotional appearances for Jessica while she battled the criticism about her curves.

Despite the scrutiny and because of all her hard work and penchant for staying in the spotlight, the beautiful and curvaceous Jessica Simpson ranked at No. 70 on AskMen.com's Top 99 Most Desirable Women of 2009 list. In the summer of 2009, Tony Romo and Jessica Simpson ended their relationship.

jessica simpson is "sexual napalm"

After coming in at No. 82 on AskMen.com's Top 99 Most Desirable Women of 2010, Jessica Simpson was set to make her return to the spotlight with the March premiere of her VH1 docu-series The Price of Beauty, about the lengths women go to around the world to meet their respective culture's standard of beauty. For better or for worse, Simpson's ex-boyfriend John Mayer beat her to the punch when he told Playboy magazine in an interview that Simpson was "sexual napalm." Simpson responded to Mayer's remarks on Oprah by saying that, she doesn't “want people to know how [she’s] in bed.” Fair enough.