Ashlee Simpson, born Ashley Nicolle Næss (née Simpson) on October 3, 1984, is an American singer-songwriter, actress, and media personality. She began appearing in television commercials at age 15 and had a recurring role on the family drama 7th Heaven. Simpson gained recognition from her reality show The Ashlee Simpson Show (2004–05), which followed her work on her debut album while also building on her exposure from the reality series Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica (2003–05). Her debut single "Pieces of Me" (2004) reached the top five in the U.S. and topped the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 chart, and her album Autobiography (2004) topped the Billboard 200 and sold over five million copies worldwide.
Simpson starred in the 2005 film Undiscovered, which was a commercial and critical failure, leading to media scrutiny. Her second album, I Am Me (2005), also debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and was certified platinum. In 2006, she began a relationship with Pete Wentz and later shifted to a dance-pop and 1980s sound for her third album Bittersweet World (2008), which received critical acclaim but lower sales. Simpson married Wentz in 2008, gave birth to a son the same year, and joined the Melrose Place cast in 2009, facing harsh reviews. She later played Roxie Hart in Chicago on Broadway. After separating from Wentz in 2011, Simpson released the single "Bat for a Heart" (2012) but scrapped her fourth album. She married actor Evan Ross in 2014, and they have a daughter born in 2015.
United States
