Ashlee Simpson

Ashley Nicolle Ross-Næss (née Simpson; born October 3, 1984), also known as Ashlee Simpson, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and television personality. The younger sister of singer and actress Jessica Simpson, Simpson began her career as a backup dancer for her sister and appeared in television commercials at the age of 15. She later pursued acting, landing a main role on the family drama 7th Heaven. She also appeared on the MTV reality series Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica, which aired from 2003 to 2005 and followed Jessica and her then-husband, Nick Lachey. While recording her debut studio album, Simpson starred in her own spin-off reality series, The Ashlee Simpson Show, which aired on MTV from 2004 to 2005 and brought her increased media attention.

Simpson achieved her musical breakthrough with her 2004 debut single, "Pieces of Me", which reached the top five of the US Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 chart. The success of the single and her reality series helped propel her debut album, Autobiography (2004), to number one on the US Billboard 200. The album sold more than five million copies worldwide, becoming her most commercially successful album. Simpson subsequently had a leading role in the film Undiscovered (2005), which was a critical and commercial failure. Her second studio album, I Am Me (2005), debuted atop the Billboard 200, becoming her second consecutive number-one album, and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Following her appearance as Roxie Hart in the West End production of Chicago, Simpson began working on her third studio album. Departing from the pop-rock sound of her previous releases, Bittersweet World (2008) incorporated dance-pop and 1980s influences and received generally positive reviews. The album reached number four on the Billboard 200 but experienced a significant decline in sales compared with her previous albums. In 2009, Simpson joined the main cast of the Melrose Place revival. Later that year, she made her Broadway debut, reprising her role as Roxie Hart in Chicago.