Simpson, 40, is counting down the days until the opening this weekend of a new residency at the Venetian resort in Las Vegas — a return to the stage after a long stretch away from the pop music career she launched in the early 2000s as the rebellious younger sister of the teen-pop glamazon Jessica Simpson

 

You're doing songs from all three albums?
Yep. Going back and looking at those songs — looking at myself 20 years ago — I'm like, whoa, Ash — I wish I could go back in time and give you a hug.

 

Why was now the time to do this?
When I did the 20th anniversary last year, I was like, this feels good. It was only three songs, but I felt like I was supposed to keep going. Vegas seemed ideal because it's close to home, so I can still be there for the kids and I can actually see: Is this right for me?

 

Which song of yours has the best bridge?
"Shadow"? "Love Me for Me"? That one takes you to this whole different place: "I've been waiting all my life to finally find you / Just so I can push you away." This is about a first relationship, and it still resonates to me as a 40-year-old woman.

 

The singing on "Autobiography" has real grit. You're pushing your voice to extremes.
Oh, I'm very aware as I'm redoing it. I'm like, God, I was really ripping there. I loved Courtney Love and Shirley Manson and Fiona Apple. And when I was younger, I loved Debbie Harry and Pat Benatar and Chrissie Hynde.

 

I was struck going back to "La La." Pretty racy.
We went there.

 

"I'll be a French maid when I meet you at the door / I'm like an alley cat — drink the milk up, I want more."
I remember being at Henson Studios, and me and Kara were like, "John, leave us alone." We went out back and put boas on and we had our moment. Kara was like a big sister to me — really helping me find myself and listening to me.

 

Did she make you feel safe?
She made me feel safe, but she also let the beast out. And she trusted the beast. Finding your right producers and your right writers — it was just us three, and it was just so real and so special. John was strict on me in good ways. He's like, "OK, little teenage Ashlee — time to focus." And I loved that because it felt like it was a real teacher.

 

It's clear in retrospect that your first two albums helped clear a path for someone like Olivia Rodrigo. Do you hear the influence?
OK, listen: Yes, I do — thousand percent. But do I think these girls are more talented? Absolutely. Also, I was inspired by the ones before me. Maybe I'm the Pat Benatar of the older ladies. My daughter and her friends, they have the Olivias and the Paramores — to them, I'm like an '80s singer was in my time, you know what I'm saying?

I was a young girl just letting it out. I'd seen a lot, and I had so much to say from watching my sister get signed, what the label wanted her to be, how fans reacted. So I felt very defensive and strong — like, "Don't talk about my sister that way." I think a lot of that fed into who I got to be as an artist because I was like, I won't do that. You won't talk to me like that.

But let me be clear — I had a super-high and then I had a super-low at "SNL." For me, it was such a lesson: You hate me so much because I lost my voice? It was such a dehumanizing feeling that I had to remember who I was and why I was doing this. People's perception of you is not who you are. Learning that at a young age was — whew! It was intense.

 

Does "I Am Me" turn out differently if "SNL" doesn't happen?
I don't think it would have been as raw. But I'm happy it was because it got deeper. It got darker too — thicker skin yet very vulnerable. When you're faced with something so traumatic, where the world is looking at a young girl this way, you either hide or you fight and keep going. And I just kept going.

 

Seems safe to say that the second-most-iconic "SNL" fail was Lana Del Rey's in 2012. When you saw that —
I can promise you I've never seen hers.

 

Wait, what?
I don't go and watch people's bad stuff — I've been through enough myself. I mean, I love her as an artist. But I don't ever harp on things like that or watch people's failures because I've had one. I don't do that.

 

Why is your third album such a different vibe from the first two?
The third album, I feel like it was so ahead of its time. I'm making it in 2007 — we didn't have those artists out yet doing the '80s thing. I was loving Missing Persons and Talking Heads. But I don't think I was sure where I was going, because I did two different versions. The other version I was writing with Jenny Lewis from Rilo Kiley and Beth Hart. I go back and listen to some of the songs I was doing with them, and I'm like, "Really wish those were in there."

 

What's that version sound like?
More singer-songwriter-y. Then I flipped it and went the other way. I was in this lighter, just-want-to-have-fun place of my life. Some of it feels incomplete as I listen to it now.

 

I'd love to hear the stuff you did with Jenny Lewis.
She's, like, my favorite. And Beth Hart — I wrote with both of them. And John Legend! We had three songs we wrote together. I was evolving, right? I was trying to say, "OK, I'm gonna leave that part of me behind." You have to imagine, I was 23 — no, 22. I got pregnant with my son at 23. There's so many lyrics I'm still proud of on that record.

 

Give me an example.
Listen to the words of "Bittersweet World": "Everybody trying to hide all of those habits / It's kind of bizarre when it's who you are / It's tragic that it's come to this / I bury all of my vices trying to keep my head up over it when everything's whatever." That lyric was saying that everyone has this facade, and I'm seeing life in a different way. I'd been on tour since I was 14, and I wanted to be a mom.

 

What can you say about new Ashlee Simpson music?
I've always been writing. Hearing my old songs come to life in 2025, I feel like it opens these doors of different inspiration for me.

 

Do the grungy guitars of your first two records still feel relevant to you?
Yes, but I feel like I have such a country thing in all of it too. I'm not saying I would go country — I'm not gonna put a country album out. But I love blues and soul and rock and roll.

 

The Vegas show is scheduled to run through late September. Is the limited nature of this gig part of why it appealed to you?
Yes at the beginning, but maybe no after rehearsals. I don't know that I see an end date now. I think it opens a door: Do I want to play shows here? Do I want to try out new material, and what does that lead to? I don't have an exact pinpoint of what that is, but my heart is open.

 

Full interview: https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2025-08-26/ashlee-simpson-las-vegas-residency-autobiography-olivia-rodrigo-interview

 

Edited August 26, 2025Aug 26 by okgo

She's been "talking about new music" for over a decade now.

 

I think it's time to "Actually release the new music" now or shut up! 

If Hilary returns with new music, then I'm fully convinced others like Ashlee from the same era might do the same.

 

Why no I Am Me reissue mention, though? 

18 minutes ago, okgo said:

Seems safe to say that the second-most-iconic "SNL" fail was Lana Del Rey's in 2012. When you saw that —
I can promise you I've never seen hers.

She's lucky

 

8 minutes ago, Appletree said:

She's been "talking about new music" for over a decade now.

 

I think it's time to "Actually release the new music" now or shut up! 

she released music in 2018 

 

5 minutes ago, PerfectCure said:

If Hilary returns with new music, then I'm fully convinced others like Ashlee from the same era might do the same.

 

Why no I Am Me reissue mention, though? 

I think its still coming

 

28 minutes ago, okgo said:

It's clear in retrospect that your first two albums helped clear a path for someone like Olivia Rodrigo. Do you hear the influence?
OK, listen: Yes, I do — thousand percent. But do I think these girls are more talented? Absolutely. Also, I was inspired by the ones before me. Maybe I'm the Pat Benatar of the older ladies. My daughter and her friends, they have the Olivias and the Paramores — to them, I'm like an '80s singer was in my time, you know what I'm saying?

It's funny that she's mentioning Paramore when they debuted at around the same time she dropped her first album. But anyway, let me give Little Miss Obsessive a stream.

I'm so here for the Simpson sisters to fully dip their toes in the water and release albums for the love of it and see where that leads to. Without the pressure of expectations.

I Am Me is such an amazing album, It deserved more

Girl I can't with her being so vague when asked about new music. Just sign that BMG deal already and knock out a modern day Bittersweet World with signature pop/rock bops. 

all three of her albums are masterpieces. she was definitely right about Bittersweet World being ahead of it's time

 

still so fresh

Beth Hart?! We lost!! 😭 I'd love to hear those songs. Makes me want to listen to her albums this week — it's been so long for me. Autobiography is a great album.

Bittersweet World was the original Bionic  

New album please!!!!

I need I'm Out on streaming. My most fave song from hers after Shadow and La La.

She really went there with La La. What a song.

 

Finally mentioning Bittersweet World too! I wish we could hear both versions now. That album still stands the test of time. 

7 hours ago, okgo said:

I was loving Missing Persons and Talking Heads. But I don't think I was sure where I was going, because I did two different versions. The other version I was writing with Jenny Lewis from Rilo Kiley and Beth Hart.

her taste though 

 

I would LOVE to hear her work with Jenny! on future music and/or on that unreleased version 

btw I still bop to Bat for a Heart sometimes, I wish it was officially on streaming!

Ashlee deserved better, but I'm a little tired of the constant teasing about new music.

I imagine she probably doesn't watch SNL all that much.

5 hours ago, jeauseph said:

btw I still bop to Bat for a Heart sometimes, I wish it was officially on streaming!

It is

 

 

1 hour ago, Gojira said:

I imagine she probably doesn't watch SNL all that much.

some things (like Lana's performance -- and even Ashlee's pre-social media) still spread all over the place (and it was meme'd to death too) even if you don't watch the show I guess thats's why the interviewer was surprised

 

2 hours ago, PerfectCure said:

It is

 

 

not pomme musique