Biography
Debuting as a Christian-raised, all-American pop singer with a powerful vocal range and squeaky clean image, Jessica Simpson initially stood in the shadows of her equally blonde, equally young predecessors, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. Routinely compared to the two divas, Simpson often struggled to be herself. Yearning to make her mark, Simpson found her voice not in music, but on television. As the star of "Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica" (MTV 2002-05), a reality show co-starring then-husband Nick Lachey, formerly of the pop band 98 Degrees, Simpson suddenly became a household name. With her hilariously naïve musings and confusions on the series - including her confusion that tuna was really chicken (of the sea) - fans and critics were never quite sure if the "dumb blonde" routine real or a clever act. Simpson's popularity as a performer peaked with her turn as the smoking-hot Daisy Duke in the feature adaptation of television's "The Dukes of Hazzard" (2005), a move that earned her and her short-shorts the scorn of certain Christian organizations. Future film efforts would prove far less successful, as would her marriage to Lachey, though she entered into highly publicized relationships with singer John Mayer and pro football players Tony Romo and Eric Johnson, and returned to reality TV as a judge on "Fashion Star" (NBC, 2012-13). As the performer pushed forward in her career, for better or worse, it was the ongoing romantic melodrama surrounding Simpson's personal life that would continually take center stage for this surprisingly enduring celebrity.
