Jessica Simpson - Career Limelight
It was in the later half of 1999, when Simpson released her debut, sensational album Sweet Kiss, which climbed to the peak number 25 on the U.S Billboard 200 chart and also made it's way through top 40 in the UK charts. This marked a successful start for Jessica, selling two and half million copies in the U.S alone. Her very first single, “I Wanna Love You Forever”, was among the top five of the U.S Billboard Hot 100 single chart and the top ten in Canada and the UK. Seeking to expand her popularity in the secular market, Simpson later signed to Sony and toured in support of boy-band sensations 98°. This is where she met Nick Lachey who eventually became her boyfriend and recorded her second single, “Where Are You”, a duet with Nick. It was a modest radio hit. The last single from the album, “I Think I'm in Love with You”, which featured John Mellencamp's 1982 hit “Jack And Diane”, was again among the top forty hit in the U.S. and a top 20 hit in Canada and the UK. In the year 2000, Jessica garnered two Teen Choice Awards for the Choice Breakout Artist and Love Song of the Year, for “Where You Are”. The very same year she featured on the 98 Degrees video My Everything.
Released during the summer of 2001, Simpson's sophomore effort Irresistible reached the top ten of the Billboard 200 and top 20 of the Canadian album chart. Despite this improvement over her debut, the album's sales were less than satisfactory; by late 2001 the album only managed to be certified gold in the U.S. for selling 500,000 copies. In total, to date, the "Irresistible" album has sold a little over 750,000 copies. The title track lead single, "Irresistible", reached the top 20 in the U.S., Canada, and the UK, as well as the top 40 in Australia. A follow-up single entitled "A Little Bit" was also released, but couldn't attain a substantial success. The album's third single, "There You Were", a sentimental Adult Contemporary song featuring Marc Anthony failed to leave its mark on the charts. In 2002, Columbia Records released a EP remix album under the titled 'This Is the Remix' which contained electro-dance remixes of some of Simpson's biggest hits.
On October 26, 2002, Simpson tied knots with her long time boyfriend Nick Lachey. She famously announced that she remained a virgin until her wedding night. During the summer of 2003, Simpson and Lachey's reality show Newlyweds began airing on MTV. Although Simpson was moderately famous before the series began, the show became a pop cultural phenomenon and made her famous even among those who did not follow pop music or MTV; it is considered by many to be the crowning glory of her career. Read more about Jessica Simpson's Divorce.
Throughout the run of four seasons she epitomized the stereotypical dumb blond. Her ignorant and a stereotype blond image helped turn the show into a huge hit, making the average rating for each episode about 1.4 million viewers and reaching a series peak of 4 million viewers. On the show, Jessica worked alongside assistant Cacee Cobb. Cashing the success of her new popularity, she appeared on a variety show, including ABC's Nick and Jessica Variety Hour in 2004 with Lachey. The same summer, Simpson won three Teen Choice Awards for Female Fashion Icon, Hottie Female, and Female Reality/Variety TV Star for Newlyweds. In 2005, the series won a People's Choice Award for Favorite Reality Show and wrapped shortly after.
Simpson's third album, In This Skin, was released during the summer of 2003 to coincide with the premiere of Newlyweds. Though initially the album was not a huge success, debuting at #10, but it re-bounced on the charts when a special collectors' edition was released in April 2004. It subsequently reached a peak of number two on the Billboard 200 and the top 40 of the UK charts, due largely to the success of Newlyweds. The album eventually proved to be her most commercially successful, selling almost three million copies in the U.S.; it also yielded arguably her most successful single to-date, "With You".
In fall of 2004, Simpson released a holiday album entitled ReJoyce: The Christmas Album, which sold moderately. The album debuted and peaked at #16 selling over 156,000 copies on the Billboard Album in November of that year and was certified Gold sometime later.
