Jessica Simpson Embraces New Beginnings With Powerful Music After Divorce

The parents of Maxwell, 12, Ace, 11, and Birdie, 5, announced their split in January, with Jessica Simpson revealing that the two had indeed been living separately, “navigating a painful situation.”

With her heart broken at the failure of her marriage, the former pop princess has found solace in music. “Through the deepest heartbreak of my life, it was the most intense yet enlightening therapy I’ve ever been through,” Jessica revealed of recording her new album, Nashville Canyon, in an intimate new interview with younger sister Ashlee Simpson, 40, in The Cut. Writing through the pain was cathartic, a source tells Star. “The lyrics poured out of her, and she has to say her new music is the best, most honest work she’s churned out.” (The country-rock LP comes out March 21, following the debut of its first single, “Use My Heart Against Me,” Feb. 21.)

It’s been a transformative time for the 44-year-old. In 2017, she announced she’d gotten sober after struggling with addictions to alcohol and pills. Two years later, she showed off her 100-pound weight loss following the birth of her third child. Now she’s single for the first time since 2010.

(The “With You” singer was previously married to Nick Lachey from 2002 until 2006.) According to the source, Jessica feels closer to her authentic self than ever before. “She’s undergone a massive transformation, and it’s like she finally knows who she is,” says the source. “It’s been a process of unearthing the real Jessica.” It’s something she’s proud to celebrate, toasting her rebirth in a Feb. 21 Instagram promoting her new track. “To the girl I was, I love you. To the woman I am, I am proud of you,” she wrote. “To the woman I am becoming, I am excited for you… Let’s do this.”

Fresh Start

Jessica returned to Nashville back in 2023. She told The Cut she was there with her family for Maxwell’s 11th birthday when it hit her that she was meant to record in the famed country music hub. “All of a sudden, I saw the light: I had to be in Nashville,” she explained. “I started looking at real estate that day.” Tellingly, as she began her journey, Eric, 45, stayed back in L.A. with the kids. “She had to go to Nashville alone,” says the source. “It was as much about the creative process as not wanting to disrupt the kids’ lives and tear them away from their friends and activities.” She knew they’d be OK with their dad, the source adds. “Eric’s a good father — Jessica could never fault him for that.”

(Indeed, during her drinking days, he picked up the slack.) Star previously reported that their union was “hanging by a thread” in late 2024, noting that they had “drifted apart,” and that financial issues were a factor (while her Jessica Simpson lifestyle brand is worth an estimated $1 billion, a source said Eric’s “failure to launch” had caused tension). While in Nashville, Jessica had an epiphany, she told The Cut. “I discovered so much that wasn’t true about the life I was leading that led me to shed everything.”

Bright Future

Cutting out alcohol had helped her find her voice, literally and figuratively. “It was so much easier for me to access myself artistically,” she revealed. It was a crutch she no longer needed. “All the fear and anxiety and self-doubt went away when Jessica quit drinking,” says the source. She also broke free of controlling record label execs dictating her every move. (She’s releasing her album independently.) “It was always about following pop music trends no matter the cost,” she’s said of her earlier music. “Even if I didn’t love what I was singing, it was what the label needed of me.”

As for her own needs, she might be dipping her toes back in the dating pool, says the source. “She wants to make sure she doesn’t lose herself again,” adds the source. “It’s a delicate balance.”