Ashlee Simpson was born on October 3, 1984, to Joe and Tina
Simpson. Ashlee started dancing at the age of 4, and at 11 she was the youngest
person ever admitted to the School of American Ballet. Ashlee attended Prairie
Creek Elementary. By 14, She was dancing professionally on the road as a part of
the stage show for her older sister, pop singer
Jessica Simpson. She spent three years, 1999-2001, on tour supporting her sibling and gathering her own
fan-base.
After several small television appearances, Ashlee appeared in
the film The Hot Chick (2002) with Rob Schneider. Her fame came when she
was cast as Cecilia Smith, girlfriend of Simon Camden on WB's drama
7th Heaven. While playing this recurring role, Ashlee worked
with acting coach Janet Alhanti and also began recording several songs in the
hopes of breaking into the music industry. In 2003, Ashlee was signed by Geffen
Records. To promote her upcoming album, Ashlee agreed to have a reality show
built around her. The Ashlee Simpson Show, produced by her father who
also produced Jessica Simpson's reality show Newlyweds, premiered on June
16, 2004 on MTV. Finally, on July 20, 2004, Ashlee released her first CD,
Autobiography. The album hit #1 on the Billboard within the first week,
and it was certified 3x platinum. The Ashlee Simpson Show ran for two
seasons.
The biggest blunder of Ashlee Simpson's career so far came when she lip-synched
her performance on Saturday Night Live in October 2004. The sound crew played
the wrong track, and Ashlee became so flustered that she danced a jig and then
ran off stage only to reappear at the end of the show apologizing profusely for
her behavior.
In 2004, Ashlee Simpson broke up with her boyfriend of over two
years, PopStar 2 winner Josh Henderson. Since June 2004, Ashlee has been
dating singer/songwriter Ryan Cabrera.
In October 2005, Simpson made another appearance on SNL in support of her latest album release and sang live to refute critics of her earlier performance.
