Jessica Simpson signed a recording contract with Columbia Records when she was sixteen, and released her debut studio album in 1999. The album sold over four million copies worldwide. Simpson adopted a more mature image for the release of her second album, Irresistible (2001). Simpson married singer Nick Lachey in 2002. The couple starred in the reality television series Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica (2003–05) on MTV, chronicling their marriage and careers. The show became a pop culture phenomenon, and made Simpson and her husband household names.
Her third studio album, In This Skin (2003), became her most successful album to date; it sold over seven million copies worldwide She made her film debut as Daisy Duke in the film adaption of The Dukes of Hazzard (2005). In November 2005, Simpson and Lachey confirmed they were separating.
Jessica launched the Jessica Simpson Collection in 2005, a fashion line of clothing and other items. The brand has gone on to earn over $1 billion in revenue, and is regarded as one of the most successful celebrity founded brands ever.