Jessica Simpson says early pop star career ‘never felt good enough’

Jessica Simpson, whose new material takes her back to her country music roots, says she "never felt good enough" to be a pop star. Photo / Getty Images

Jessica Simpson “never felt good enough” to be a pop star.

The 45-year-old singer shot to pop stardom in the early 2000s with hits such as Irresistible but confessed she was left battling the feeling she was inadequately equipped for the spotlight.

Speaking at a concert in Connecticut on Monday, Simpson said: “My whole music career, you know I had a job, and it was to be a pop star and I tried but I will say when you’re younger you just never feel good enough and it’s okay to not feel good enough.

“I want everyone to have grace for themselves when they just don’t feel good enough sometimes. But I’m very good at convincing myself that my purpose is bigger than the moment that I’m in – a really hard time of my life I just kinda had to surrender myself to the intuition to the light that was in front of me and just focus on that.”

The I Wanna Love You Forever singer described how music merely became “a job” for her.

“It was never about the music. It was never about my voice. It was never about my purpose. It was about chasing hits. It was about how many spins you got on the radio and just making sure they [the label] recouped. It was a job,” Simpson said.

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She felt creatively restricted during the early phase of her music career.

“Back in the day as a pop star, you could sing an R&B song, but I wasn’t allowed to write [one].

“It didn’t feel authentic to who I was, but I had a job to do. And even if that job was highly competitive, it taught me a lot. My purpose had to stay intact, or I would’ve been taken down. Nothing was ever good enough.

“It became about the dance moves. It became about everything else that was manufactured. I’m just not a manufactured person.”

Simpson has now returned to music with the country album Nashville Canyon and said her new material takes her back to her Texas roots.

“I had to go back. I had to rediscover the child.

“I was a preacher’s daughter, so I grew up with gospel, praise and worship, Christian music. I learned very young the power of music; it emotionally heals through the spirit of God. Music, for me, started as a prayer, and I feel like that’s how the blues started.”