Jessica Simpson’s Interview With E!
Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008
Jessica Simpson arrived on the scene a fresh faced, cute young, seemingly innocent girl who was often compared to Britney Spears.
But most of her singing career has been overshadowed by her personal life.
First it was her marriage to Nick Lachey and the Chicken of the Sea fiasco, then rumors of her infidelity on the set of Dukes of Hazard, then her divorce, then the steady stream of boyfriends, her sister’ surgeries, her controlling father, you name it.
Although she has never been known for her singing skills, she has pushed on - even after her terrible performance at the Kennedy Center Honors tribute to Dolly Parton where she freaked out and cried after forgetting the lyrics to 9-5.
So what does she have to say about all this? Read on and find out.
During the Kennedy Center Honors tribute to Dolly Parton, you messed up singing “9 to 5,” but now Dolly not only wrote the title track of your album, she sings on it, too. Did you ever think you’d go from the Kennedy Center drama to being friends with Dolly?
You know, what happened at Kennedy Center, I really thought I was done singin’. I was just at a place where I’d lost a lot of confidence and I didn’t even know who I was. But Dolly totally took me under her wing and helped me up and over the cares of the world.
It went from the Kennedy Center to her being a part of this record and getting letters from her of encouragement. She told me she’s never been more proud of anything in her whole life. And I have it written down in her handwriting! I do owe a lot of my confidence to her.
During your recent concerts, you’ve been thanking your fans for giving you a second chance. Did you ever think your real fans left you?
Um, no, but sometimes I feel like I close myself off so much to the fans. But at my shows, it’s not just fans. It’s people that are skeptics, critics. It’s, you know, all different kinds of people interested to see what I would actually be doing on stage, and if I could carry my own, and if I could stand up there as a woman with something to say. Be up there with a sense of purpose, you know. So I think more than anything, when I say, “Thank you for giving me a second chance,” I feel like I’m having a comeback. I’m on solid ground again. They can look to me for inspiration. I wanna be a role model.
I have to admit I’ve been analyzing some of the songs, trying to figure out which song is about whom. Are you worried that people are going to overdissect everything, like this song is about this boyfriend, and this song is about this time and the ex-husband?
People are gonna dissect it, but I hope they give the album a chance first. I hope they listen to it, and my biggest hope for this record is that people aren’t listening to it and thinking about me and somebody else. That they can actually listen to it and relate to it…I think that it’s important for people to give it a listen without thinking about any of my relationships.
So you’ve done a song with Dolly. You do Shania Twain and Dusty Springfield in your shows. But who else you lookin’ to sing with? How about someone like fellow Southerner Miley Cyrus?
Miley’s adorable. She looks up to my sister so much. She’s so cute, yeah. You know, when it comes to duets, I really can’t top Dolly Parton. That’s always been a dream of mine. So I really don’t know who I’d duet with.
How about acting—want to do more?
Hopefully there’s more acting to come. I’m not closing that chapter of my life by any means. But I am all about the music right now…When it comes to acting, it’s gotta feel right for me at this point in my life. It’s gotta just be a really incredible director and production with an awesome studio and great cast…But for me right now it’s just Jessica Simpson is music.














