Jessica Simpson’s Nerve-Wracking TV Return and Soul-Baring EP Drop
Slightly random thought: Jessica Simpson sweating through hairspray on her feet is the comeback moment we didn’t know we needed. On May 18, the 44-year-old singer braved her first televised performance in 15 years during the American Idol season finale, and yes, she was a bundle of nerves. In a chat with Extra, Simpson admitted, “Oh, my God, I was dying. My feet were sweating. I had to put hairspray on my feet to stand still.” She repeated an internal mantra—“Do not cry”—especially after spotting her dad in the wings. “I’m going to cry. Do not cry. Just sing your songs,” she told herself before belting out a duet of “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’” with former contestant Josh King, revisiting her 2005 hit from the Dukes of Hazzard soundtrack.
Simpson confessed that being off TV that long—her last spot was a holiday tune—made this return feel more raw than any hair-metal tour. She’s now gearing up to release Nashville Canyon, Pt. 1, with part two dropping this summer. Describing the new tracks as “naked, bare, raw, vulnerable,” she insists this music is “so much a part of my soul.” The proud mom of three—Maxwell “Maxi” Drew, 13; Ace Knute, 11; and Birdie Mae, 6—hasn’t yet gotten her kids’ live-show reactions, but Simpson says she can’t wait. Their only witness so far has been TikTok skits, apparently.
Offstage, Simpson’s also reclaiming her screen presence. She popped up in an episode of Ryan Murphy’s upcoming legal dramedy All’s Fair, rubbing elbows with Glenn Close, Teyana Taylor, Kim Kardashian, Niecy Nash-Betts, Naomi Watts and Sarah Paulson. “His people called my people,” she joked, adding that working alongside Kardashian—“a friend,” she clarified—made the shoot extra fun. Her role? “Very crazy,” which is about all she’ll say. Simpson dubs this era “Jessica Simpson 4.0,” and based on EP teasers and her jittery Idol revival, she’s set to prove that reinvention never goes out of style.
If there’s a lesson here, it’s that even pop-culture veterans still get butterflies—and sometimes need a can of hairspray to hold it together. Anyway, that’s the deal. Do with it what you will.
Sources: Celebrity Storm and People Magazine, Extra
Attribution: Creative Commons Licensed
