She might be the younger sister of superstar Jessica Simpson, but don't confuse their tastes or style when it comes to music. Waco, Texas-born Ashlee Simpson always loved music. At age 11 she was the youngest person ever admitted into the School of American Ballet. At 14 she moved with her parents and older sister to Los Angeles and spent time dancing in Jessica's stage show. Appearances on Malcolm in the Middle and The View led to a regular role on the television show Seventh Heaven but Ashlee's heart was set on a music career. One of her songs, "Just Let Me Cry," landed on the Freaky Friday soundtrack in 2003, and Ashlee continued work on her rocking and punky demos when Seventh Heaven wasn't in production. Geffen was impressed and released her debut album, Autobiography, in 2004 as MTV was debuting Ashlee's own reality show. During its first week of release, Autobiography went to number one on the Billboard album charts with sales of 398,000 copies. Her sophomore effort, I Am Me, which was also produced by John Shanks, was issued in October 2005. ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide
