Ashlee Simpson was the biggest thing on the planet for a minute. Then she did a hoedown. You know the one. That 2004 Saturday Night Live glitch where the wrong vocal track played, catching her in a lip-syncing nightmare. Most people assume her career just ended right there on that stage.
It didn't.
Actually, she went back into the studio and doubled down. She worked with John Shanks and Kara DioGuardi again. They crafted I Am Me, an album that was basically a middle finger to everyone who spent the last year trashing her. It was released on October 18, 2005. Honestly, the balls it took to name your comeback album I Am Me after being turned into a national punchline is kind of legendary.
The Numbers Nobody Remembers
Everyone loves a "downfall" narrative. But here is the reality: I Am Me debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. It wasn't some quiet indie release. It sold 220,000 copies in its first week. Sure, that was a drop from the nearly 400,000 Autobiography moved in 2004, but it still beat out almost everything else that year.
The album eventually went Platinum. People were still buying what Ashlee was selling. They were still watching her MTV reality show. They were definitely still talking about her.
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"Boyfriend" was the lead single. It was catchy. It was petty. It peaked at number 19 on the Hot 100. The song addressed the rumors that she had "stolen" Wilmer Valderrama from Lindsay Lohan. It was peak 2005 drama. We didn't have TikTok then, so we just had music videos on TRL and tabloid covers.
Why the Music Felt Different
The vibe of I Am Me was darker than her debut. It had to be. You can’t go through a public shaming like she did and come back with bubblegum pop. She had "thicker skin" but felt "very vulnerable," as she told People recently.
Songs like "Beautifully Broken" and "Catch Me When I Fall" were literal responses to the SNL fallout. They weren't subtle. In "Catch Me When I Fall," she sings about how her world fell from the sky. It’s raw. It’s sort of emo-pop-rock before that was a massive mainstream thing.
- Production: John Shanks kept that "garage band but expensive" sound.
- Lyrics: Very diary-entry style. Ashlee co-wrote every track.
- Vocals: They kept some of the rasp and the imperfections. It was a choice to prove she could, in fact, sing.
The second single was "L.O.V.E." and it was basically a cheerleader anthem. It felt a bit like Gwen Stefani's solo stuff from that era. It spent ten days at number one on TRL. If you were a teenage girl in 2005, you probably had that song on a burnt CD.
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The SNL Return
One of the weirdest things about this era is that Ashlee actually went back to Saturday Night Live. She performed "Boyfriend" and "Catch Me When I Fall" in 2005. She nailed it.
The crazy part? You can barely find that footage today. The 2004 "hoedown" video is everywhere. It has millions of views. But the redemption performance? It’s basically a ghost. Ashlee herself has said in interviews that she’s searched for it and can’t find it. It's like the internet decided only the failure mattered.
Is I Am Me Actually Good?
Critics at the time were mean. They gave it a 43 on Metacritic. Rolling Stone gave it one and a half stars. They called it "dour."
But looking back? It’s a very solid pop-rock record. It captures a specific moment in time when pop stars were trying to be "authentic" by wearing black eyeliner and playing guitars. It was the era of Kelly Clarkson's Breakaway and Avril Lavigne's Under My Skin. Ashlee fit right in.
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She wasn't trying to be Jessica. She wasn't trying to be Britney. She was just trying to survive the weirdest year of her life.
How to Revisit the Era
If you're feeling nostalgic, don't just look for the SNL clip. That's boring.
- Listen to "Dancing Alone": It’s a sleeper hit on the album with a massive U2-style chorus.
- Watch the "L.O.V.E." Video: It is a time capsule of 2005 fashion.
- Check out the 2026 Residency: Believe it or not, Ashlee is actually performing these songs again. She added dates to her "I Am Me" residency in Las Vegas because of "overwhelming fan demand."
The world has finally caught up to the fact that the bullying she faced was, in her words, "dehumanizing." We're more protective of young female stars now. We see the nuance. I Am Me wasn't a failure; it was a survival tactic. It remains a fascinating look at what happens when a pop star refuses to go away quietly.
Go back and listen to the title track. It’s a breakup song, sure. But it’s also a statement of intent. She wasn’t going to change for anyone, even when the whole world was laughing. That's worth a re-evaluation.
To really appreciate the album, listen to it alongside her first record to see the shift in tone from "everything is great" to "everything is complicated." Pay attention to the bridge in "Beautifully Broken"—it’s arguably the most honest vocal of her career. Once you've done that, you'll see why those Vegas shows are selling out twenty years later.