I was born in Dallas, Texas, on July 10, 1980. Growing up in the small town of Richardson, my life was textbook happy. My father Joe was a psychologist who also served as youth minister in the local Baptist church.With my background, it was only normal for me to participate in church activities and sing in the choir. Such was my gift that at the age of 12, my auditioned for The Mickey Mouse Club.When I reached the finals, I froze, choking completely. Unfortunately, I didn't get the job; Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera were luckier. Nevertheless, this experience served as an important life lesson for meShe returned to Richardson and bit into the Christian music she had been brought up with. Before long, small label Proclaim Records noticed her voice and offered to record an album. She recorded a number of gospel songs but just as they were angling for a release date, the label went bankrupt.Not about to give up in the face of adversity, Joe (my dad and manager) took me on the road, where we worked the Christian Youth Concert circuit. I sang and then sold my home-recorded album after performances. This was a winning formula and while I was still in junior high, I was performing with famous gospel acts like Kirk Franklin and Ce Ce Winans.Word spread about me and my record sold like hotcakes. More importantly, it wasn't only Christian music fans who got into my music; pop lovers everywhere were being charmed by my voice. This was just the encouragement I needed to pursue a middle-of-the-road pop music career.Sure enough, news of my success reached important people in the industry. Tommy Mottola of Columbia Records/Sony Music was one of them and he was stunned by my voice and skills.Mottola believed I had the talent to reach mainstream audiences. Still, I made it clear that I would only be onboard if I could maintain her identity. Luckily, Mottola understood what I believed in and supported my decision.After signing up with the music giant, my 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." I then hit the road and showed audiences worldwide what the "Jessica Simpson" craze was all about.I joined boy band '98 Degrees' for the tour and it didn't take long for me to fall in love with one of its members, Nick Lachey. Our budding romance only helped the release of our duet, "Where You Are," off Sweet Kisses.In June 2001, my sophomore album Irresistible was released. The title track was a smash hit and it went as high as No. 3 on the Top 40 mainstream chart. After some remixes, my third record 'In This Skin' was released in August 2003. However, my life was about to take a drastic turn.After a short breakup, me and Nick finally got married in October 2002. and the celebrity marriage had rejoiced gossip columnists everywhere. As a result, MTV offered us a reality show based on our 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 my new album, it became an incredible hit and it was picked up for second and third seasons.Since the world can't seem to get enough of our goofy antics, we were offered a TV variety special reminiscent of The Sonny and Cher Show.In 2005, I was seen donning sexy "Daisy Dukes" in the film version of The Dukes of Hazzard. I also released a remake of Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made For Walking."In November 2005, Nick and I made our plans to divorce public.*"I want people to fall in love with my voice before my image."
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