Jessica Simpson

Jessica Simpson first appeared to position herself as a wholesome teen-pop rival to Britney and Christina, but eventually had to sex her image up as sales flagged. A hit MTV reality show featuring her and new husband Nick Lachey helped too, before Simpson was give the chance to launch an acting career.

Simpson began her career on the Christian country circuit, touring with Kirk Franklin and God's Property. She was signed by Columbia Records and sent out on tour in support of boyband 98 Degrees, one of whom, Nick Lachey, she would later marry. Her debut album, Sweet Kisses, which was a mix of pop, soul and gospel, sold two million copies. Not afraid to tamper with an apparently successful formula, changes were made to both Simpson and her music for the follow-up. The thinner and apparently less-'gospelly' Simpson released her second album Irresistible, which was deemed to be sufficiently successful to spare her further alterations.

She and husband Nick opened the doors to their lives for the reality show Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica, a useful by-product of which was a boost to the flagging sales of her third album In This Skin. A re-released special edition was propelled to No. 2 on the Billboard charts, and the album has since gone multi-platinum.

She released a holiday album, Rejoyce: The Christmas Album, to remind people of the spiritual side of Christmas, although with only a No.14 chart placing, it wasn't quite the stocking filler her record company had hoped for. Simpson's next album was for a different label, butPublic Affair didn't sell well and received poor reviews on release. A return to her country roots is planned for her next album.

Simpson's acting career has seen her play the parts of Daisy Duke in The Dukes of Hazard and Amy Renfroe in Employee of the Month.