Growing up in the shadow of a successful
older sister can’t be easy, but Ashlee Simpson hasn’t
allowed big sister Jessica’s success to deter her
from finding her own niche in the entertainment industry.
The native Texan grew up with music in her blood, so
it comes as little surprise that she pursued that avenue.
However, her path to pop music stardom was anything
but normal. As a young girl, Simpson applied and was
accepted to The School of American Ballet. Acceptance
into such a prestigious school is quite an accomplishment
for any young person, but it was even more striking
for the standout Simpson who was the youngest dancer
to be accepted into the school at the tender age of
eleven.
Three years later, Ashlee would follow her family to
Los Angeles, so older sister Jessica could further her
already smoldering singing career. While Ashlee continued
dancing, even appearing as a backup dancer for her sister,
she started moving into a new arena: acting. While she
had guest roles on such hit shows as “Malcolm
in the Middle,” Simpson struck gold when she landed
a regular role on the WB’s long-running series,
“Seventh Heaven.”
During time off from “Seventh Heaven,”
Simpson turned her focus to music, admittedly her biggest
passion. Her first big musical break came when her song
“Just Let Me Cry,” appeared on the teen
film Freaky Friday’s soundtrack in 2003. It was
just the break Simpson needed, and she was soon in the
studio laying down tracks for her debut offering, “Autobiography,”
released in 2004.
“Autobiography” catapulted Ashlee Simpson
to stardom in an instant; the album zoomed to the top
of the charts and sold a stunning 398,000 copies, a
more than impressive first effort. “Autobiography”
would go triple platinum that same year. At the same
time “Autobiography” was sizzling at the
top of the charts, Ashlee’s own reality show “The
Ashlee Simpson Show” premiered on MTV.
Simpson was on fire, her popularity rivaling that of
her older sister, and Ashlee Simpson concert tickets
sold like hotcakes. Despite an embarrassing mishap on
“Saturday Night Live” in 2004 – Simpson
was caught lip syncing her song – the multi-talented
performer rebounded with her 2005 release “I Am
Me.”
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