| Ashlee Simpson |
Website Links For Ashlee |
Information AboutAshlee Simpson |
Ashlee Nicole Simpson (born October 3 1984 ) is an America n Pop Rock Singer – Songwriter and an occasional Actress . She is the younger sister of pop singer Jessica Simpson . Simpson rose to prominence in mid-2004 through the success of her number-one Debut Album '' Autobiography '' and the accompanying Reality Series '' The Ashlee Simpson Show ''. Simpson received widespread derision when she used a pre-recorded vocal track for a performance on '' Saturday Night Live '' in October 2004. Following a North American Concert Tour and an unsuccessful film appearance, Simpson released a second number-one album, '' I Am Me '', in late-2005. BIOGRAPHY Early life Simpson was born in '' in 2001, a minor role in the 2002 Film '' The Hot Chick '' and a recurring role on the family drama series '' 7th Heaven ''. In the summer of 2003, Simpson briefly worked as an MTV VJ on TRL , and later recorded a song titled "Just Let Me Cry" for the Soundtrack of the film '' Freaky Friday ''. Eventually, Simpson signed a record deal with Geffen Records . Debut album and reality television Simpson's first Album , ''Autobiography'', debuted at number one in the U.S. in July 2004 with first week sales numbering around 398,000 copies. The album was certified triple Platinum in September 2004. Simpson co-wrote all of the album's tracks and described it as "very true to my emotion" September 15 , 2004 Capital FM ( London ) radio interview. in one interview, but critical reviews were mixed.1 '' Rolling Stone '' magazine's Peter Relic characterised ''Autobiography'' as a "mundane melange of Avril -ish brat pop and Sheryl Crow cod rock"2 while E! Online wrote "Even if it doesn't wow you, Autobiography may surprise you."3 The Single that preceded the album, " Pieces Of Me ," was one of the biggest hits of the summer in the U.S. and sold well elsewhere. However, the follow-up singles " Shadow " and " La La " were less successful. Simpson occasionally appeared on '' Newlyweds '', a reality show about the married life of Jessica and her then-husband Nick Lachey . To accompany the beginning of her own music career, she got her own MTV reality show entitled ''The Ashlee Simpson Show'', which aired in a subsequent time slot to ''Newlyweds''. It ran in the U.S. for eight weekly episodes over the summer of 2004, and a second season of ten episodes aired from January to March 2005. The show dealt with the process of writing, recording, and performing Simpson's music as well as aspects of her personal life. When appearing for live performances, Simpson performed live with a backing band consisting of Ray Brady (guitar), Braxton Olita (guitar), Joey Kaimana (bass guitar—from 2004 to 2005 Zach Kennedy filled this role), Chris Megert (keyboards and vocals—from late 2004 to 2005 Lucy Walsh filled this role), and Chris Fox (drums). In September 2004, Simpson announced on her website that the band would be named "Ashlee Simpson and Submission," taking the name from the fact that they had received so many submissions of proposals for the name. In addition to her own first album, Simpson sang "Christmas Past, Present, and Future" on the 2004 holiday album '''s "Breakout Star of 2004" in January 2005. Simpson also co-hosted '' Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin Eve '' along with Regis Philbin (in Dick Clark 's absence) at the end of the year, hosting the West Coast portion of the show and performing three songs. ''Saturday Night Live'' incident Simpson appeared on '' Saturday Night Live '' as a musical guest on the October 23/24, 2004 episode, and as is customary for the show's format, she was scheduled to perform two songs. Her first song, "Pieces of Me", was performed without problems. However, when she began her second song, "Autobiography", the song "Pieces of Me" was heard again—including her vocals—before she had raised the microphone to her mouth. Simpson began to dance spasmodically and then left the stage. During the closing of the show Simpson appeared with the guest host Jude Law stating that her band performed the wrong song in the opening on the performance. Others, however, criticized her for what they saw as evidence that she was Lip Sync hing. On October 25, Simpson called in to the Music Video show '' Total Request Live '' and explained that due to complications arising from a "severe" variation of Acid Reflux (which had previously been seen in ''The Ashlee Simpson Show'') she had completely lost her voice and her doctor had advised her not to sing. She claimed that because of the acid reflux, her father required her to use a Guide Track for the performance. She said of the incident, "I made a complete fool of myself." According to Simpson, the drummer hit the wrong button, which caused the wrong track to be played.6 During the October 25 Radio Music Awards broadcast, Simpson pretended, as a joke, to make the same mistake as she did in the ''SNL'' incident, but then began to perform "Autobiography" without using a pre-recorded vocal track as she had done during the prior ''SNL'' performance. On October 31, the CBS news program '' 60 Minutes '' aired footage from Simpson's rehearsals before the ''SNL'' performance, in which she was seen having trouble with her voice and seemed visibly upset. Early 2005 On January 4 2005 , Simpson performed "La La" at the halftime show for the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida ; when her performance finished, many of the 72,000-plus spectators Booed . Representatives for the Orange Bowl stated that they were pleased with her performance and felt that it was a belated reaction to the ''SNL'' incident, while others have speculated that it may have been because the audience of the Orange Bowl was outside of Simpson's target age bracket. Still others disagree, however, and assert that her performance was poor and very off-key.78910 " music video.]] Following her Orange Bowl performance, an '' magazine chose Simpson to be on the cover of the February 2005 issue,13 naming her the "Fun Fearless Female of the Year".14 Simpson's first U.S. headlining tour (with two dates in Canada as well) ran from mid-February to late April 2005, and its opening acts were Pepper's Ghost and The Click Five .15 In addition to material from ''Autobiography'', Simpson performed her own unreleased song "Hollywood", The Pretenders ' "Brass in Pocket", Blondie 's " Call Me ", and Madonna 's " Burning Up ". She said that the tour would be "stripped down", without Pyrotechnics , and that "it's going to be me and my band getting out there and having fun".16 In March 2005, Simpson said that ''The Ashlee Simpson Show'' would conclude at the end of its second season,17 the last episode of which aired at the end of the month. Film and second album Simpson had a supporting role as an aspiring actress named Clea in '' Undiscovered '' (originally titled ''Wannabe''), an Independent Film that was released in theaters in August 2005. Simpson filmed her scenes in late 2004. While Simpson's performance was met with acceptable reviews,1819 the film itself was trashed by critics20 and placed outside of the top ten in its opening weekend,21 earning just $676,048. Simpson's second album, ''", became a top twenty hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and performed similarly elsewhere. The second single, " L.O.V.E. ", reached the U.S. top forty, its success aided by a remix by R&B/hip-hop producer Missy Elliott and MTV 's heavy rotation of the single's Music Video (it has been her most successful video to date on '' Total Request Live ''). According to an unconfirmed rumor reported in March 2006, there will be a re-release of ''I Am Me'' with at least one new song. {Link without Title} Simpson began a concert tour in late September in Portland, Oregon and appeared on the October 8 2005 episode of ''SNL'' to promote the album. The first of Simpson's two performances on the show was of the ballad " Catch Me When I Fall ", which was written about her previous ''SNL'' experience, and she thanked the crowd after her second performance. In mid-December, Simpson collapsed after performing in Japan , possibly due to exhaustion. She was briefly hospitalized, and consequently cancelled an appearance at the Radio Music Awards.23 Simpson appeared on the December 2005/January 2006 cover of '''', '' Cosmopolitan '' magazine's January 2006 edition, the March 2006 issues of '' Seventeen '' and '' ELLE '', and the April 2006 issue of '' JANE ''. On an MTV sponsored 'Spring Break' Special in March 2006, a Kelly Slater /MTV celebrity surfing invitational was shown, featuring celebrities such as Meagan Good , Jack Osbourne , Ashley Parker Angel , Tony Hawk , and Ashlee Simpson. Ashlee managed to pull through each round, and beat out top competitor, Jack Osbourne, to win the entire competition. On April 12, Simpson hosted the MTV Australia Video Music Awards ; she also won the awards for Best Female Artist and Best Pop Video (for "Boyfriend"), and performed "Boyfriend" and "L.O.V.E." {Link without Title} Later in April, part of a new song from Simpson, "Invisible", was featured on her website. Simpson has plans for a summer tour, with dates currently scheduled from June 5 to July 29; The Veronicas will be her opening act. {Link without Title} IMAGE AND PERSONAL LIFE '' album cover]] Simpson has a decidedly different image from that of her sister. Previously Blond e like Jessica, she dyed her hair dark during the recording of the MTV reality show after she finished filming for the ''7th Heaven'' television series, although after a year with dark hair she returned to blonde in 2005. Simpson's songs also have rock elements absent from her sister's music, and Simpson often wears shirts with " Punk "-style designs, sometimes emblazoned with band names. She typically has her fingernails and toenails painted black, and has three Tattoo s: a star on one wrist, two cherries on her ankle, and the word "love" on her other wrist.2425 Her vocals, while generally not thought to equal her sister's range, have been praised by some as fitting the style of her music, and are usually described as "raspy" or "throaty". Simpson and her sister were tied for third on oft-quoted celebrity-fashion critic Mr. Blackwell 's list of the worst-dressed celebrities of 2004. Blackwell wrote that "from gaudy to grim to downright frenetic these two prove that bad taste is positively genetic". She has refused to discuss her sex life, in contrast with her sister, who openly stated her intention to practice lasted for nearly two years and ended during the first episode of ''The Ashlee Simpson Show''. Soon after, she began dating fellow musician Ryan Cabrera . That relationship was also featured on the show, and Simpson appeared as Cabrera's love interest in the Music Video for his song "On the Way Down". The two were reported to have split in August 2004 due to their hectic schedules, but they resumed their relationship for a while afterward, before ending it again in early 2005; Simpson says they are still friends, although rumors suggested that Ashlee did not like the fact that Ryan had moved on to The Veronicas' Lisa Origliasso. In 2005, rumors began circulating that Simpson had stolen Wilmer Valderrama from Lindsay Lohan . Simpson's single "Boyfriend" was reported to be about the situation, but she said that the song "is about {Link without Title} every girl out there sometimes thinks you stole her boyfriend. It's just making fun of that".26 Valderrama has since said on Howard Stern 's radio program that he did have sex with Ashlee Simpson, but claimed the incident was unrelated to his break-up with Lohan. Later that year, rumours arose that Simpson was secretly dating another Joe Simpson-managed actor, '' Viva La Bam '' In November 2005, ETalk Daily broadcast a video of a late-night visit made by Simpson to a McDonald's fast-food restaurant in Toronto, Canada. Simpson appeared to be intoxicated in the video, and was shown arguing with a member of the staff, as well as rejecting a customer's attempt to get an autograph from her because he wouldn't kiss her feet. According to Simpson in a 2006 '' ELLE '' interview, she was "a little Tipsy ", and the customer had first called her "gross" before he had realized who she was, at which point he asked her for an autograph. She has said that she told herself to "grow up" after the incident. In February 2006, Simpson was honored by MTV's '' Total Request Live '' (''TRL''), as the "Bounce-Back" artist. The award was given to her for being able to recover from her many ups and downs of her career, and still manage to release another #1 platinum album. CRITICISM There have been arguments that Simpson is a "manufactured" artist with little singing talent. Her critics cite incidents like the ''SNL'' episode and the Orange Bowl performance as evidence for their claims. It has also been argued that Simpson's image (instead of her music) is the reason for her continued success. Furthermore, it has been argued that she had an unfair advantage in getting a record contract because she is Jessica Simpson's sister. Some speculate that Simpson was pushed to fame through the aggressive management style of her father, Joe Simpson, who is her manager and was the executive producer of her reality show. Others think that Simpson has lip-synched on occasions other than the ''SNL'' episode, comparing the impact of the ''SNL'' incident to the 1990 Milli Vanilli incident in which their guide track skipped during a live MTV performance, revealing that they were lip-synching.2829 Simpson had performed live numerous times before the incident, and has since. In early 2005, Simpson's marketing campaign was accused of Astroturfing by users on several websites. A post on Metafilter claimed that the marketing company posted the same text, which contained the text, "I just read about Ashlee in us weekly. Those guys at the football game were total jerks." (the "football game" referring to the Orange Bowl incident) under the user name "mandyc19" on over three hundred different music-related forums in order to further promote Simpson and paint her in a positive light.30 This (and possibly other instances) led to a new term, "Ashleeturfing", to describe faux fan raves such as this.31 In January 2006, Simpson was nominated for a Razzie Award for "Worst Supporting Actress" for her role in '' Undiscovered ''; Ashlee's sister Jessica was also nominated in the same category for '' The Dukes Of Hazzard ''. They lost to Paris Hilton . VIDEOS FEATURED ON ''TRL'' The following videos have charted on MTV 's '' Total Request Live '' (TRL) program: AWARDS 2004 Teen Choice Awards
2004 Billboard Awards
2005 MTV Asia Video Music Awards
2006 TRL Awards
2006 MTV Australia Video Music Awards
2006 Kelly Slater Surf Invitational
DISCOGRAPHY FILMOGRAPHY She also appeared in an episode of the TV show '' Malcolm In The Middle ''. SEE ALSO NOTES EXTERNAL LINKS
|
|
|