Ashlee Simpson Biography

Birth Name : Ashley Nicolle Simpson

Nickname : Ash

Height : 5' 4½" (1.64 m)

Born: 3 October 1984

Birthplace: Dallas, Texas

Best Known As: Jessica Simpson's sister and singer of "Pieces of Me"

Education : School of American Ballet

Nationality : American

Profession : actress

Ashlee Simpson was born on October 3, 1984, to Joe Truett and Tina Ann (Drew) Simpson. Ashlee started dancing at the age of 4 and by the time she was 11 enjoyed the status of being the youngest person ever admitted to the prestigious School of American Ballet. By 14, Ashlee was dancing professionally on the road with her older sister, pop singer Jessica Simpson. Ashlee spent 1999-2001 on tour supporting her sibling and garnering her own fan-base.

In 2001 Ashlee began acting, landing small roles in television shows and movies. She appeared on the big screen last year in the film The Hot Chick alongside Rob Schneider. She already has television appearances under her belt, including a guest-starring role on Malcolm In the Middle. She has also appeared alongside her sister on Saved By The Bell, The Donny & Marie Show, The Rosie O'Donnell Show, The View, The Tonight Show With Jay Leno and a Disney Christmas show and concert special.

Ashlee's big break came in 2002 when she was cast as Simon Camden's love interest on 7th Heaven. While that role showed that Ashlee could act, it didn't change the fact that what she really wanted to do was sing. Later Ashlee played the character Cecilia on the television show from 2002 until the beginning of her singing career in 2004, at which point she said that she would no longer regularly play the role. Aside from contributing a song to the Freaky Friday soundtrack (which also featured tunes from Lindsay Lohan and Simple Plan), Ashlee didn't have much singing experience - though that didn't stop her from trying to launch a solo career.

In 2003, Geffen Records signed her to a music deal and Ashlee began working on her first album immediately. Because Jessica was having so much success with her show Newlyweds, Ashlee decided to go the reality TV route as well. Her series, called The Ashlee Simpson Show, premiered in June of 2004 on MTV and documented the entire process of making an album - from writing the songs to recording them. Show ran for eight weekly episodes from June 16 until August 4, 2004 and helped to establish recognition for her. When the album (called Autobiography) was finally released on July, 20, 2004, it went straight to number one - a feat that big sister Jessica Simpson has never been able to accomplish.

In October of 2005, Ashlee released her sophomore album I Am Me. Her personal life hit a bump when she broke up with Cabrera, but her career continued to grow. I Am Me, much like her first album, debuted at number one on the Billboard charts. Later that month, Ashlee was invited back to SNL to perform her new guitar-heavy single "Boyfriend," which People's Chuck Arnold described as a "feisty first single … probably the best thing she's ever done."

Now that the second season of The Ashlee Simpson Show was over, Ashlee changed a few things including the color of her hair (she dyed it back to blonde) and her relationship status, as she began dating Braxton Olita, the guitarist in her band. I Am Me proved to be a stronger and more personal album than Autobiography. "Everybody has flaws. Everybody falls on their face. But flaws make you who you are," she explained to Teen People. "You have to go through negative experiences to become a stronger person. I found the strength to pick myself back up and write a new album."

Ashlee Simpson's main appeal comes from her fresh-faced youth and natural exuberance. Refreshingly, she isn't as blatant with her personal life as her sister, Jessica, who made headlines by declaring her premarital virginity with much hoopla. But that doesn't mean Ashlee is timid about sex. One of the songs on Autobiography deals with sexual fantasies. "There's a lot of sarcasm in that song," Ashley explains. "It's something every girl thinks about, so I decided to make a joke about it."