Ashlee simpson wentz autobiography of a face

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In its title track – which also served as the theme song for The Ashlee Simpson Show – the star directed her lyrics to those who thought they knew everything about her. “When I was around 14, I hadn’t grown into my face yet and was all awkward and ugly, and I had this beautiful pop-star sister,” she told Cosmopolitan in 2005.

Following a NorthAmericanconcert tour and a film appearance, Simpsonreleased her second number-one album, I Am Me. Simpsonassumedcreativecontrol over her less successfulthird album, Bittersweet World.

Born
Oct 3, 1984
Waco
Also known as
  • Ashlee Simpson
  • Ashlee Wentz
  • Ashlee Nicole Simpson
  • Ashley Nicolle Simpson
  • Simpson, Ashlee
  • Ash
Parents
Siblings
Spouses
Children
Religion
Nationality
Profession
Education
  • School of American Ballet
Lived in

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Submitted
on July 23, 2013

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(She was simultaneously making her own reality show series The Ashlee Simpson Show, which chronicled the album process and also became a hit).

“So there was a time when I didn’t feel great about myself.

It’s the album’s lead single, however, that most perfectly executes Ashlee’s mix of early twenties chaos with her specific brand of karaoke-ready, catchy, rock-tinged cuts. And for the young listeners who loved Autobiography and Ashlee in spite of the public’s disapproval, the album has continued to remain one of the most prescient and raw releases from that era.

It’s no surprise that these songs still resonate today.

Order the 20th anniversary edition of Ashlee Simpson’s Autobiography now.

Who is Ashlee Simpson-Wentz?

Ashlee NicoleSimpson is an American singer-songwriter and actress.

ashlee simpson wentz autobiography of a face

At 20, Ashlee Simpson’s ‘Autobiography’ Is as Raw and Relatable as Ever

In 2004, Ashlee Simpson was primarily known as a little sister. Her sister Jessica had previously become a household name thanks to Newlyweds, her show on the channel, and the younger Simpson sister soon had her own program on the network.

It’s adult-contemporary, Vh1 Top 20 Countdown-core with a twist; the song is sensitive and earnest with that hint of rebellion that Ashlee carried so well. The Ashlee Simpson Show had a stark difference to many other productions of its time, though – instead of focusing purely on the minutiae of the budding musician’s daily life, it followed her in the studio as she worked on her debut album, Autobiography.

It was that premise that convinced Simpson – who positioned herself as going against the grain of her mainstream pop peers at that moment – to allow cameras to follow her around at all.

The singles were international hits, with “Pieces of Me” hitting Number Five on the Billboard Hot 100. On the chorus of title track “Autobiography,” she celebrates her stained t-shirt and the flirty side of recovering from a heartbreak. With new jet-black hair and thick black eyeliner, Ashlee set herself apart not only from her sister but from many of the other pop girls that the the industry probably intended for her to compete with at the time.

Working with producer John Shanks (Nelly Furtado, Goo Goo Dolls, Jon Bon Jovi) and songwriter Kara DioGuardi (Avril Lavigne, Kelly Clarkson, Gwen Stefani), she mined these incidents and emotions to create a debut album that coursed with equal parts angst and youthful abandon. Listening to Autobiography all these years later, it’s easy to hear that Simpson tapped into something deep and emotional, both for herself and her fans.

When the wrong vocal track accompanied the band’s live performance, Ashlee proceeded to do a “hoedown” dance as the show cut to commercial. Her singing ambitions stayed on the backburner until she hit her twenties — that’s when she got a major break and recorded the spunky Freaky Friday soundtrack cut “Just Let Me Cry,” a sharp, pop-punk contrast to the saccharine bubblegum sound all over her sister’s discography.

It was because of this opportunity that Ashlee got her first record deal.

The song is about coming to the point where I’m like, ‘Okay, I love who I am, and I’m happy being this person’.”

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The identity that Simpson discovered in Autobiography was not just a personal triumph but a commercial success. By the time she began working on her debut album, her older sister Jessica Simpson had skyrocketed from a young, Southern, blond pop princess to a bona fide A-lister, thanks to the hit reality show The Newlyweds, which chronicled Jessica’s marriage to 98 Degrees heartthrob Nick Lachey.

As a teen, Ashlee was famous by proxy.

And at 20 years old, the same age Ashlee was when she made it, it still sounds as fresh, fun and relatable as it did in 2004.