She started working on her first album, Jessica, with Proclaim Records and even got to tour for the first time. But according to her father, she was “too sexy” for the Christian music circuit and ended up pursuing a more mainstream music career.
Proclaim Records later went bankrupt and Jessica was picked up by Columbia Records after catching the eye of talent scout Teresa LaBarbera Whites and Tommy Mottola, the label’s head.
“She had a great little look and a great attitude, a fresh new face, and something a bit different than Britney and all of them; she could actually sing,” said Mottola, who was married to Mariah Carey at the time.
In 1998, Simpson hired her dad as her manager and her mum as her stylist and got to work on her debut studio album, which kicked off with debut single I Wanna Love You Forever in 1999 (pictured).
