Pieces Of Me

"Pieces Of Me" was Ashlee Simpson's first single, released on her 2004 debut album Autobiography when she was just 19. She wrote the song with two pop-songwriting heavyweights: John Shanks and Kara DioGuardi. They came up with it after Simpson told them, "I have all these sides to me, and my boyfriend doesn't understand." Shanks, who also produced the album, has written and produced hits for many young female singers, including Hilary Duff, Michelle Branch, Kelly Clarkson and Lindsay Lohan. DioGuardi's credits include "Taking Chances" by Celine Dion and "Mama's Song" by Carrie Underwood. She was a judge on American Idol for two seasons starting in 2009.

The song was a hit, rising to #5 in the US on September 18, 2004. It was a strong debut that landed her a slot as musical guest on the infamous October 23, 2004 episode of Saturday Night Live when she was caught lip-synching. Ashlee performed "Pieces Of Me" as her first song, and later in the show she was supposed to sing "Autobiography." "Pieces Of Me" started playing instead, and while Simpson looked dumbfounded, her vocals came in, clearly indicating she was lip-synching. She walked off stage while the band kept pretending to play, and NBC went to commercial. At the goodbyes at the end of the show, she said her band started playing the wrong song; she later claimed she lip-synched because she was suffering from acid reflux. The incident was captured by a news crew that was doing a story on Saturday Night Live for 60 Minutes. When asked about Simpson, SNL producer Lorne Michaels said he expected her to sing, and musical guests were only allowed to augment their vocals if dancing was involved. Michaels was clearly not happy about the incident, and they made fun of Simpson the next week on the show.

Simpson's career never fully recovered from the SNL incident, which tarred her as a manufactured pop star. Subsequent singles from the album, "Shadow" and "La La," didn't have much impact. By this time, though, the Autobiography album had already sold over 3 million copies; it was highly anticipated thanks to Simpson's MTV reality series "The Ashlee Simpson Show." Her next album, I Am Me, was released in 2005 and had enough marketing muscle behind it to debut at #1, but the biggest hit from the set was "Boyfriend," which stalled at #19. After another album in 2008, Simpson put her career on hold and put her efforts into raising three kids. She returned to action in 2025 with a Las Vegas residency, where she sang "Pieces Of Me" as the encore.