Ashlee Simpson

Ashley Nicolle Ross-Næss (née Simpson), known professionally as Ashlee Simpson, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and television personality. Born on October 3, 1984, in Waco, Texas, to Tina and Joe Simpson, she grew up in Richardson, Texas, alongside her older sister, Jessica Simpson. She began studying classical ballet at three years old and enrolled at the School of American Ballet in New York City at age eleven. In 1999, the family relocated to Los Angeles, California, where Simpson worked as a backup dancer for her sister and appeared in television commercials.

Simpson expanded into acting with a guest appearance on Malcolm in the Middle and a minor role in the teen comedy film The Hot Chick (2002). She secured her first main television role as Cecilia Smith on the family drama 7th Heaven, appearing in forty episodes over two seasons. After recording tracks for holiday and movie soundtracks, including Freaky Friday (2003), Simpson signed with Geffen Records. She gained wider public exposure appearing on MTV's Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica and working as a VJ on TRL during the summer of 2003.

Simpson achieved her commercial breakthrough in 2004 with her debut single, "Pieces of Me," which reached the top five on the US Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Mainstream Top 40 chart. Her debut studio album, Autobiography, was released in July 2004 alongside her spin-off reality series, The Ashlee Simpson Show. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and sold over five million copies worldwide, yielding additional singles such as "Shadow" and "La La." That year, Simpson won two Teen Choice Awards and was named New Female Artist of the Year at the Billboard Music Awards.

Following a widely publicized lip-syncing incident caused by a technical malfunction on Saturday Night Live in October 2004, Simpson launched her Autobiography Tour across North America in 2005 and held a supporting role in the film Undiscovered. Her second studio album, I Am Me (2005), featured the top-twenty single "Boyfriend," debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, and earned a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America. She later returned to Saturday Night Live to perform without incident.

Simpson made her stage debut as Roxie Hart in a West End production of Chicago, later reprising the role on Broadway in 2009 and at the Hollywood Bowl in 2013. Her third studio album, Bittersweet World (2008), adopted a dance-pop style and reached number four on the Billboard 200. In 2009, she joined the main cast of the television series revamp Melrose Place. She released an independent single titled "Bat for a Heart" in 2012 before pausing her solo album work to focus on raising her child.

In October 2018, Simpson and her husband Evan Ross released a self-titled extended play as the duo Ashlee + Evan through Access Records, supported by a North American tour and a reality television series. In April 2026, Simpson participated in the fourteenth season of the competition series The Masked Singer, emerging as the season's winner.