Joe Simpson is just as happy about his daughters Jessica and Ashlee Simpson’s return to music as we are!
“I mean, come on, we are blessed,” Simpson, 65, exclusively told Us Weekly at the Giving a Smile Foundation Gala on December 11. “Both girls [are] singing at the same time. I’ve been to both concerts. I’ve cried at both. It’s been a wonderful revival of joy for me.”
Joe, a former talent manager and TV producer, served as the manager for his eldest daughter, Jessica, now 45, during her rise as a pop star in the early 2000s. He managed Ashlee, now 41, and was instrumental in launching her music and subsequent acting career.
The Simpson sisters are having quite a strong 2025, with both of them returning to music after extended time away from the industry. Ashlee announced in June that she would perform for two nights in August at the Venetian resort in Las Vegas to celebrate the 20th anniversary of her second album, I Am Me.
Jessica, meanwhile, returned in early March with the release of her Nashville Canyon EP after nearly a decade away from music. Six months later, Jessica dropped the second part of Nashville Canyon, which she recorded with country stalwarts including JD McPherson and Sista Strings.
Jessica’s return to music came after her split from husband Eric Johnson after a decade of marriage. Johnson, 46, and Jessica share three children: daughters Maxwell, 13, and Birdie, 6, and son Ace, 12.
Ashlee married Evan Ross, the son of Diana Ross, in 2014, and they share son Ziggy Blue, 5, and daughter Jagger Snow, 10. Ashlee also shares son Bronx Mowgli, 17, with Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz, to whom she was previously married.
Regarding a Jessica and Ashlee collaboration in the future, Joe revealed to Us that he thinks “it’s possible.”
“You never know,” Joe said. “They’re sisters. So, they’re both having a great time. [They’re] both busy mothers with children, but also, it’s wonderful to see them back in music. Ashlee … I went to her first concert. It was really fun to watch her on stage, start out, marking the stage and working from history, and then watch her rise to like, ‘I know what I’m doing. I got this,’ and to become all that she is as a star.”
Joe also shared a personal health update with Us after previously battling prostate cancer in 2016 and 2017. An insider confirmed to Us at the time that radiation treatment was successful and he was “in the clear.” In 2023, Jessica revealed that her father was battling bone cancer in a birthday tribute post to her daughter Maxwell.
“Maxwell’s birthday wish was for her Papa Joe’s bone cancer treatment to work. It did. Thank you Maxi Drew for usin’ your wish on our family and most importantly, my Dad,” Jessica wrote via Instagram at the time.
Now, Joe is still thriving, explaining at the gala that he has a clean bill of health.
“I’m eight years from stage IV cancer, so I’m not supposed to be alive, but I’m a miracle, so I’m happy,” Joe told Us.
The Rifkin Raanan Dentistry team asked their top celebrity clients to come out and support their inaugural gala for the Giving a Smile Foundation. The event at the Beverly Hilton was packed with stars including host Kelsey Grammer, James Tupper, Lesley-Ann Brandt and Emma Hernan, all there to support the mission of providing no-cost dental care to children in need in Los Angeles.
But the viral moment of the night belonged to actor Harry Goodwins, of Netflix’s The Gentleman. Tapped to introduce headliner Robin Thicke, Goodwins cracked up the room by playfully admitting, “My lines got blurry! I’m not sure what I’m supposed to say.” Thicke, 48, then took the stage in a custom black Swarovski-crystallized pinstriped suit and performed “Blurred Lines” for the sold-out crowd that was up on their feet and dancing.
Reporting by Rebecca Ray.
