Jessica Simpson

Jessica Simpson started dating ‘98 Degrees’ singer Nick Lachey after they met at a Christmas party in 1998. Despite their much publicized wedding in October 2002 and subsequent appearance in reality TV show, they separated in November 2005 and finalized their divorce in June next year.

She started dating Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo in November 2007. However, the fans of the Cowboys, including the then-president George W. Bush, blamed her for his poor performance, which eventually caused their break-up in July 2009.

In May 2010, she started a new relationship with retired NFL tight end Eric Johnson, and got engaged to him in November. Their first child, daughter Maxwell Drew Johnson, was born on May 1, 2012, and she gave birth to her son, Ace Knute Johnson, on June 30, 2013.

Jessica Ann Simpson was born on July 10, 1980, in Abilene, Texas, to Baptist minister Joseph "Joe" Simpson and his wife Tina Ann. She has a younger sister, Ashlee Simpson, who is also a singer-songwriter and actress.

Jessica enrolled in J. J. Pearce High School in Richardson, Texas, where she became interested in theatre. However, she left school in her junior year to pursue music, and later completed the GED test.

When she was a child, the family moved frequently for her father’s job, but eventually settled in Richardson, Texas. She sang in the Church choir as a child, and discovered her ambition to become a singer when she was 11.

At the age of 12, Jessica Simpson successfully auditioned for ‘The Mickey Mouse Club’ worldwide talent search, singing ‘Amazing Grace’ and dancing to ‘Ice Ice Baby’. She eventually won the various levels to become one of the six finalists, along with Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Justin Timberlake, but failed to perform in the final audition due to nervousness.

Fortunately, her second chance came within a few weeks while she was performing in the church choir. A guest speaker, who was about to start a gospel label, invited her for an audition, and signed her after listening to her rendering of Whitney Houston’s version of ‘I Will Always Love You’.

For the next couple of years, she worked with Proclaim Records to record her debut album, ‘Jessica’, which ultimately remained unreleased as the record label went bankrupt. In 1994, her grandmother personally funded the release of a few copies of the album to be sent to various record labels as demo.

Tommy Mottola, the head of Columbia Records, signed her in July 1997 as a contrast to contemporary singers Spears and Aguilera.

On September 28, 1999, she stormed into the music industry with her debut single, ‘I Wanna Love You Forever’, which reached No.3 on US ‘Billboard Hot 100’ chart.

Jessica Simpson’s third studio album, ‘In This Skin’, has been her most successful work till date. It received triple platinum certification in the US and has sold over 7 million copies worldwide.