Happy 20th birthday, Jessica Simpson!
Singer Jessica Simpson celebrates her 20th birthday today (July 10). The singer from Dallas, Texas, developed her amazing vocal skills belting out gospel tunes in her local Baptist church where her father, a psychologist, served as a youth minister. At age 12, Simpson auditioned for the Mickey Mouse Club and made it all the way to the finals, but she told Launch she "froze" and didn't get the part she was competing for alongside future pop music superstars Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and 'N Sync's Justin Timberlake and J.C. Chasez.
However, Simpson didn't let that setback keep her from following her dream and she eventually signed to a Christian music label, but bigger things were on the horizon. Simpson told Launch that when she was still a high school senior, a meeting with Sony Music Entertainment Chairman and CEO Tommy Mottola changed her life forever: "I sang live for Tommy Mottola and, when he signed me on the spot, all I could think of was, 'He signed Mariah [Carey]!' You know, he is the founder of Mariah, so to be a part of that is so special to me because I've grown up listening to Mariah," she said. "I've idolized Mariah; I've idolized Celine [Dion]. And to be a part of the same label - it's anybody's dream, especially a young girl who listens to them all the time." (Launch)
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