Sureshot's Jeff Timmons, Bryan Abrams, Chris Kirkpatrick and Rich Cronin
Photo: Sureshot

Bryan-Michael Cox is a Grammy-winning producer whose clients include Mary J. Blige, Usher and Mariah Carey. So what's he doing in the studio with former members of Color Me Badd and LFO?

The answer lies with reality television, of course.

Cox is the producer in charge of a new boy-band supergroup at the center of an upcoming VH1 series formerly titled "Man Band." (The show is currently untitled.)

Coming together for a show that blends "The Surreal Life" and "Making the Band" are Chris Kirkpatrick of 'NSYNC, Jeff Timmons of 98 Degrees, Bryan Abrams of Color Me Badd and Rich Cronin of LFO (the latter of whom was diagnosed with leukemia in 2005 but is currently recovering from a stem-cell transplant: see "LFO Singer Rich Cronin Hospitalized With Leukemia").

"We put them all in one house," Cox said. "And the show focuses on them and their manager and me."

Cox and the group have been shooting throughout January in — where else? — Orlando, Florida, the onetime mecca for boy bands. Cameras are scheduled to roll for another few weeks, after which Cox hopes to have a finished album.

"The music is actually really, really good," Cox promised. "I think that people will be surprised by just how talented these guys are. You can never count anybody out."

Along with the VH1 show, Cox is producing his own reality series called "The Studio: Exposed," the first few episodes of which are available on YouTube.com.

"It's a raw view into what we do to create the energy and vibe in the studio," said Cox, whose diatribes dominate the show.

When he's not making TV, the Jermaine Dupri protégé (see "Usher's Success Lifts Songwriter/Producer Bryan-Michael Cox") is still making plenty of music — he has time booked with stars from Celine Dion to Usher.

"We have a certain chemistry," Cox said of the latter. "Usher is very focused in what kind of artist he is. And every album gets stronger and stronger because he knows where he wants to go."

Also on Cox's plate is the comeback album from Whitney Houston, for which he's already produced three tracks.

"I think that Whitney being gone so long is to her advantage," Cox said. "She has so many options. I'm leaning toward more classic Whitney, but I want to produce records that talk about what she's been through. You hear all negative press — it's up to her to tell her story and basically make records that mean something."

Cox is also working again with Chris Brown, Mary J. Blige and Jagged Edge on their next projects. In addition, he'll be taking on several newcomers, including those on his own label.

First though, the producer will hit the Grammys, where he's nominated for his work with Luther Vandross ("I was blessed to be the last [producer] to work with Luther," he said) and Blige.

"She broke some ground, and I don't think anybody expected it," said Cox, who produced Mary J.'s "Be Without You." "I think that people are attracted to stories like Mary's, watching her grow up and go through changes and come out victorious."

• Behold The Supergroup

• *NSYNC
• 98 Degrees
• Color Me Badd
• LFO

98 Degrees' Justin Jeffre
Photo: Getty Images

CINCINNATI — Maybe Nick Lachey should have run after all.

Even with fund-raising help from his 98 Degrees bandmates, Justin Jeffre couldn't overcome voter skepticism — and let's face it, with only 20 percent turnout, voter apathy — about his campaign for Cincinnati mayor. The singer, 32, who announced his unlikely candidacy in April at his hometown alma mater (see "Former 98 Degrees Member Running For Mayor Of Cincinnati"), came in a distant fifth place in the nonpartisan primary held on Tuesday, garnering just 2 percent of the vote.

Though his 708 votes paled in comparison to the more than 13,000 scooped up by the top two candidates who will vie for mayor on November 8, Jeffre didn't come in dead last. He beat 83-year-old retired shoemaker Sylvan Grisco (0.3 percent, with 130 votes) and security guard and three-time presidential candidate Sandra Queen Noble (0.2 percent, 121 votes), who was unable to raise any money to support her candidacy.

"I feel good," a tired Jeffre said Wednesday morning (September 14). "I think we did well given the lack of coverage that the local media gave my campaign. I was a grass-roots candidate and not one of the big-money, big-party politicians and I got some national and international attention, but the local media chose to marginalize my campaign, which I think was a great disservice to the community."

At the April 1 campaign announcement, Lachey said, "People will be quick to write him off, but he really cares about this city for the right reasons and I will help him any way I can." Jeffre's campaign was focused on education, luring young people back to the city, revitalizing downtown and improving police/community relations.

But the candidacy failed to attract much local media attention, despite some high-profile help from Lachey, who was on hand at a fund-raising party in April as well as a non-singing 98 Degrees reunion at a Cincinnati rally on September 3 aimed at raising funds and Jeffre's profile.

But Jeffre's not done. He said he's launching a local citizen and student watchdog action group to "create a network of engaged citizens to make sure that citizens have good places to get information on all candidates, not just ones that the local media decides to cover." He hopes to eventually take the group national and warns, "Don't be surprised if in 2009 Justin Jeffre is back in the ring."

In the meantime, the recent 98 Degrees reunion stoked the group's interest in getting back in the studio, which the guys plan to do soon. "Nick and Jeff [Timmons] have studios in L.A., so we're going to get together and start writing and working on our next project," Jeffre said. "Everyone is ready to come together and it's taken this long, so we're in no hurry to drop something before we feel like we have things the way we want them."

• 98 Degrees

Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey
Photo: Craig Sjodin

Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey are doing a tribute to recognize the fourth anniversary of September 11 — they'll sing "America the Beautiful" prior to the start of the Chicago Bears and Washington Redskins game on that day. Their performance will be televised on both CBS and FOX, live from FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland, at 12:58 p.m. ...

Cincinnati mayoral candidate Justin Jeffre will be joined by his former groupmates in 98 Degrees on Saturday at a campaign fund-raiser. "Newlyweds" star and Cincinnati native Nick Lachey will join brother Drew, Jeff Timmons and Jeffre at the city's Purgatory nightclub for just the second live performance by the group in four years. Jeffre told The Cincinnati Enquirer that the boy band will perform "Invisible Man" as a nod to how the local media has ignored his campaign. ... The settlement in a class-action suit brought against Apple by irate iPod owners was approved last week by a California judge. The agreement, which was tentatively approved in June, paves the way for owners of the first two generations of iPods to get either $25 in cash or $50 in credit at an Apple store, and for third-generation owners to get a replacement battery if theirs conks out. The settlement, which is valued at around $15 million, could affect up to 1.3 million iPod users. ...

Ruben Studdard and Chaka Khan are among the acts joining Yolanda Adams on the Yolanda Today Tour, which kicks off October 4 in Houston and wraps in early November in Miami. Adams' first album in four years, Day to Day, hit stores Tuesday (August 30). ... "Jimi Hendrix Live at Woodstock," a DualDisc DVD that captures the legendary guitarist's closing performance at the 1969 music festival in its entirety, is slated for release on September 13. The DVD set will also include the documentary "The Road to Woodstock" plus other bonus material. ...

Former Guided by Voices leader Robert Pollard has recorded his first movie soundtrack, for director Steven Soderbergh's indie murder mystery "Bubble." The low-budget drama, due out next year, features a cast of unknown actors playing employees at a doll factory. Pollard recorded two vocal tracks and eight instrumentals for the movie, some of which will appear on an EP, Music for Bubble, slated for release next month. ... "The Electrifying Conclusion," a DVD featuring the final live performance by Guided by Voices, which was recorded at Chicago's Metro on December 31, 2004, will hit stores on November 15. The band performed more than 60 songs during its last set, but it is unclear at this point which of those tracks will make the cut. ...

Hoover High School in Birmingham, Alabama, disinvited Louis XIV from performing at a post-football-game dance this past Saturday after parents objected to the band's explicit lyrics and album covers. The school's football team had played a nationally televised game on ESPN. ... No matter who ends up being the next lead singer of INXS, fans of the "Rock Star: INXS" show can get a serving of some of the most popular performances on the talent show with the upcoming Rock Star: A Night at the Mayan Theatre. The 17-track album, due September 20, features dreadlocked singer Jordis Unga doing the Who's "Baba O'Riley" and David Bowie's "The Man Who Sold the World"; sensitive belter Mig Ayesa singing Peter Frampton's "Baby, I Love Your Way" and Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit"; and covers by the other finalists. ...

The Beta Band are putting out one last album, a career retrospective called The Best of the Beta Band, due October 4. The double CD includes tracks from all of their full-length albums, plus a complete live performance from their farewell show at Shepherd's Bush in London. The double DVD includes their videos, short films, live footage from the farewell tour and more. ...

08.29.2005

Ashlee Simpson has mapped out nine club shows this fall to help generate some buzz for her forthcoming LP, I Am Me, which lands in record stores on October 18. The first of those dates, according to Simpson's Web site, is set for September 21 in Portland, Oregon. The trek will end in New Orleans on October 9. ...

This fall, after a three-week break from the road, 3 Doors Down will head back out for 14 more gigs, according to the band's Web site, this time with Shinedown and Alter Bridge as the opening acts. The tour kicks off in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on September 29 and wraps in Columbus, Georgia, on November 9. ... On November 1, Blink-182 will drop a Greatest Hits album, with 16 classic Blink cuts, including "Dammit," "What's My Age Again?," "All the Small Things," "Adam's Song" and "Rock Show." The disc will also include a live version of "Man Overboard" as well as a previously unreleased cover of the Only Ones' "Another Girl, Another Planet." ...

Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose has fired back at his former bandmates Slash and Duff McKagan, through his attorney. Two weeks ago, Slash and Duff filed a federal lawsuit against the singer, charging that Rose transferred the publishing rights to the band's back catalog without their permission and knowingly pocketed royalty payments that were owed to the rest of the band. But on Monday morning (August 29) Axl's attorney, Howard Weitzman, issued a statement characterizing the lawsuit as "frivolous" and "premature." He claims the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, which collects money for songwriters, issued a check for the band's collective royalties to Axl's publisher — a clerical error, he said. The check was returned and ASCAP was notified of the mistake. "Rather than pick up the telephone and contact Axl or his representatives, his former partners scurried to file a lawsuit that contained false statements about Axl rather then making an effort to learn the truth regarding ASCAP's mistake," the statement reads. "Slash and Duff have an unfortunate pattern over the past few years of filing sensational but baseless lawsuits for the purpose of generating anti-Axl propaganda." ...

The Deftones' forthcoming B-Sides & Rarities, a CD/DVD package that drops on October 4, will feature several previously released and hard-to-find covers, including versions of the Cocteau Twins' "Wax and Wane," Helmet's "Sinatra," Duran Duran's "The Chauffeur," Jawbox's "Savory," the Smiths' "Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want" and the Cure's "If Only Tonight We Could Sleep." The disc will also boast a previously unavailable acoustic version of "Digital Bath." ... Garbage have canceled the European leg of their current tour, deciding instead to wrap things up at the end of September in Australia. Dates had been scheduled for October in France, Belgium and the United Kingdom. According to a statement from the band's label, Garbage have "been constantly on the road since the beginning of March" and "feel they have somewhat overextended themselves and have mutually decided to conclude their tour at the end of September. The band wishes to extend their apologies to all Garbage fans in the territories involved and thank them profusely for their support." All tickets will be refunded. ...

Don't worry, it doesn't mean Erasure are breaking up, but frontman Andy Bell is going the solo route with his upcoming album, Electric Blue, due October 4. Bell is planning to support the album, which includes a duet with Jake Shears from the Scissor Sisters, with live dates in late 2005 and early 2006. ... You Hear It First alum Nellie McKay is graduating to her next album, the follow-up to her 2004 debut, Get Away From Me. Pretty Little Head, due January 3rd, features duets with Cyndi Lauper ("Beecharmer") and k.d. lang ("We Had It Right"), as well as songs about gay marriage ("Cupcake") and tenants' rights ("The Big One"). ...

Live will release their first Epic Records album, Songs From Black Mountain, in mid-November. The first single, "The River," will hit radio stations in mid-September. ... The law firm representing Patricia Santangelo — the New York mother of five who is countersuing the RIAA over a file-sharing accusation — has started a blog called "RIAA vs. the People." The site (recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com) will track the case as it progresses and has already posted a number of legal documents and a host of links to stories about Santangelo. According to lawyer Ray Beckerman, "We have set up this blog in order to collect evidence and input about these oppressive lawsuits." The recording industry has filed 13,000 lawsuits against Internet users since September 2003, with nearly 3,000 of those accused settling for an average of $4,000-$5,000. ...

• Jessica Simpson
• Nick Lachey
• 98 Degrees
• Ruben Studdard
• Guided By Voices

98 Degrees' Justin Jeffre (file)
Photo: Getty Images

CINCINNATI — If you were wondering what Nick Lachey was going to do now that "Newlyweds" is over, cross one more thing off your list: running for mayor of his hometown of Cincinnati. Because Nick's old 98 Degrees bandmate Justin Jeffre has beaten him to the punch.

Jeffre, 32, announced his candidacy for mayor of the Queen City at his alma mater, the School for Creative and Performing Arts, on Friday (April 1).

He was introduced by Lachey, who wore jeans with a white Jeffre campaign T-shirt and said of his friend of more than 20 years: "If I could think of one person who has more pride in this city than I, it's my good friend Justin. ... In all the years I've known him, I've never been more proud of him than I am today."

Wearing a dark blue pinstriped suit and light blue shirt, Jeffre stood atop a staircase in the front hallway of his high school surrounded by the 11 members of the Baby Grande singing ensemble, who sang him onto the "stage" with a chorus of "Amazing Grace." Behind him was a campaign sign that read "Be the Change."

At the 4 p.m. press conference attended by approximately 70 friends, family and supporters, Jeffre kicked off his campaign by answering the most burning question of the day.

"I want to warn everyone up front, don't be fooled by my common-man credentials, don't be fooled by my boyish charm, and definitely don't be fooled by the date on the calendar, my candidacy for mayor is no joke," said Jeffre, putting to rest rampant rumors that the announcement was some kind of April Fool's Day prank.

"Whenever I travel, people ask me where I'm from: New York or L.A.?" Jeffre said. "And when I say Cincinnati, they say 'Why?' My answer to them is always the same: 'You've obviously never been there.' "

The low-key singer went on to give a fairly polished stump speech with plenty of applause lines for his supporters that touched on an array of subjects, from improving education to revitalizing downtown with an arts district and improving police/community relations.

Earlier in the day, Jeffre said he'd been mulling over the run for office for seven or eight months and was trying to keep it under wraps until his announcement on Friday, but word leaked out early. In fact, he said he was flattered to have already endured his first political rite of passage: a Jay Leno monologue joke.

During Tuesday night's show, Leno joked, "Former 98 Degrees singer Justin Jeffre is running for mayor of Cincinnati. Good campaign slogan, too: 'Vote for me, or I'll release another album.' "

Jeffre, who along with Lachey has been an avid booster of his hometown for years, said he stepped up to the challenge because he was tired of seeing Cincinnati beaten up in the press for negative things like 2001's riots and efforts by the KKK to erect a cross on downtown's Fountain Square. He is running a "grass-roots, bare-bones" effort campaign as a nonpartisan independent candidate. One of his campaign posters featured a waving American flag over a sea of what looked like people jumping up and down in the pit at a concert.

"Cincinnati needs a mayor who is not talking about building a party or a political career," Jeffre said, alternating the classic Bill Clinton karate-chop hand motion with his own twist: a snap of the fingers. "We need a mayor who is working on building the city!"

After the press conference, Lachey said, "People will be quick to write him off, but he really cares about this city for the right reasons, and I will help him any way I can." The former bandmates are scheduled to celebrate the announcement at a party on Saturday night at a Cincinnati nightclub.

Jeffre has a film crew following him and plans to release a documentary or even a reality show about his run. "I think my chances [of winning] are great," Jeffre said before the press conference. "I think it will be a tough race, but I have a great team already, and people in town know me and know what I'm about."

He does have name recognition, though he might want to think about his buddy Nick for a cabinet position at least. "I've heard of 98 Degrees and I know who Nick Lachey is," said Cincinnatian Julie Thorp, 31. "I know [Jeffre] was in the band with him, but isn't he, like, 30? I don't think he's ready to be mayor of Cincinnati. I wouldn't even vote for Nick at this point ... well, maybe I would, he's kind of cute."

Even if the whole mayor thing doesn't work out, Jeffre hasn't shut the door on music entirely. He's been doing some producing and "behind the scenes" management work since 98 Degrees broke up in 2002, and he said the guys have been discussing recording a reunion album (see "Nick Lachey Forging Ahead With Solo Career, Says 98 Degrees Reunion In The Cards").

Asked about the album, Lachey said with a grin, "We'll revisit the idea after my whole solo album thing is done ... but Justin will have to record his parts in the mayor's office!"

This story was originally published at 2:34pm ET.

• 98 Degrees

Photo: MTV News

• Good Charlotte
• Sum 41
• blink-182
• Jesse McCartney
• The Used

98 Degrees' Jeff Timmons
Photo: MTV News

UNIVERSAL CITY, California — While Justin Timberlake, Nick Carter and Nick Lachey looked to their respective record labels to support their solo careers, Jeff Timmons is breaking away from his boy band without corporate assistance.

The 98 Degrees singer just released his debut album, Whisper That Way, through his Web site, and the project will hit store shelves in September, but not through Universal Records.

"It's great being with a major label 'cause they can put a lot behind your project and do a lot of promotion and stuff, but they also have some sort of control over the creativity of your project at times," Timmons said at the recent Teen Choice Awards (see "Ashton Kutcher Punks The Competition At Teen Choice Awards"). "Even if you write everything and produce everything yourself, they can still get in there and change some stuff, and I just wanted to have my own thing where I tell my own story about what's been going on with me for the last couple of years."

Whisper That Way is a collection of 10 immensely personal songs, mostly about falling in love. One exception, the LP closer "Baby J," expresses the joy of becoming a father for the first time. "I always dreamed of this/ A baby boy to kiss/ And share my name," he sings on the tune.

"It's along the lines of old 98 Degrees, the first two albums, only it has a little more of an R&B feel to it and it's skewed a little older, a little more [adult contemporary]," Timmons said. "You'll get the familiar harmonies and stuff like that, the ballads, but there's a little bit more growth, hopefully."

The album's first single, which he was happy to select himself, is also called "Whisper That Way."

"It's just about a guy and a girl, two people in love," he explained. "It's not about what the person's saying, but how they're saying it to you. Literally the feel of what they are describing and the music. ... Basically the lyrics are like, 'Tell me about the first time we danced, tell me about the first time we met,' and I'm not really listening to what she's telling me about. It's how she's whispering it to me."

• 98 Degrees

Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey at the MTV Movie Awards
Photo: MTV News

LOS ANGELES— Judging by their interaction backstage at the MTV Movie Awards, future reality TV stars Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson have some Osbournes-like potential, especially when the topic turned to his steamy new video.

"Three or four girls in my video and who go on the road with me are Pussycat Dolls," Lachey said, referring to the sexy Hollywood burlesque dance troupe (see "Christina, Gwen Stefani, Dita Von Teese Help Bring Back Burlesque"). "My choreographer [Robin Antin] is in charge of the Pussycat Dolls show, so obviously it was somewhat sexy choreography."

"Somewhat?" Simpson shot back, eyebrows raised.

"It wasn't over the top," Lachey argued. "The vibe of the song is sexy. I asked you to be in it."

"No you didn't," Simpson contended.

"You must've been asleep," Lachey answered with a smirk.

Of course, like any good TV, there's a happy ending. Simpson isn't really that jealous.

"I was there and I'm friends with the girls, so that makes it easier to hang out with them," she said.

"She was distant at first and not too comfortable, but it's all business," Lachey added. "They're hired to do a job and I'm hired to do a job."

The mostly performance video, directed by veteran Bille Woodruff (Nelly, R. Kelly), is for "Shut Up," the first single from the 98° member's solo debut, titled SoulO.

Due August 19, the album features production by the Matrix (see "Britney Spears, Avril Lavigne Fall Into The Matrix"), Keith Thomas (98°), Guy Chambers (Robbie Williams) and David Eriksen (Paulina Rubio), who co-wrote "This I Swear," which will likely be the theme song to the Lachey family's upcoming reality show (see "Mr. And Mrs. Nick Lachey Get Dose Of Reality; Tom Green To Take On Leno").

Nick and Jessica have had cameras on them for two months now and said they are definitely at the point where they forget the crew is there.

"There's always been reality shows about getting married and finding the person you're going to marry, but never about a couple," Simpson said about the idea for the show. "I think people will be interested to see how a celebrity couple manages time and makes everything work together."

"The first year of any marriage is pretty eventful, it's a huge adjustment," Lachey added. "We're no exception to that, plus we've got career things [going on] and we're crazy, so put it all together."

Before "Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica" premieres August 4, the couple will host specials from MTV's Beach House during the summer.

Simpson is also releasing an album this summer (see "Nick Lachey, Jessica Simpson Expect To Deliver This Summer"). In This Skin is due August 19 and includes the single "The Sweetest Sin."

• 98 Degrees
• Jessica Simpson

Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey
Photo: Columbia

It's not quite "The Honeymooners," but newlyweds Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey are opening up their lives and home to MTV's cameras for a new reality show, the network announced Wednesday (April 2).

Starting this month, cameras will capture the recently wed pop stars as they adjust to married life. The couple will certainly be facing enough drama, as they'll be living in a house that's under construction and working on their respective new albums (see "Nick Lachey, Jessica Simpson Expect To Deliver This Summer"). The channel describes the show as a "reality trip reminiscent of 'I Love Lucy' ... without the script." The untitled project premieres this August.

Simpson's previous small-screen presence has included an appearance on "That '70s Show" as well as an upcoming episode of "The Twilight Zone."

Also announced on Wednesday, Tom Green returns to MTV, this time as a late-night talk show host. Promising to redefine the late-night genre, the program will feature much of the "insanity of Tom's world," from his take on things in the world at large, to celebrity guests who get caught up in the comedy segments. The new Tom Green talk show premieres June 16 at midnight.

• Jessica Simpson
• 98 Degrees

Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey
Photo: MTV News

The honeymoon is over for Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson, who are back at work on their recording careers.

Although release dates are not set, the newlyweds will both be releasing albums this summer. It will be Simpson's third album and Lachey's first outside of 98° (see "98 Degrees' Nick Lachey Following In Footsteps Of Justin T., Nick C.").

Simpson has titled her record In This Skin but has yet to pick a first single. Her husband has the opposite problem. "My first single is called 'Shut Up,' but it's no parody on Kelly Osbourne or anything," said Lachey, who may end up going with a self-titled release for lack of any great title ideas.

Now that the singers are married (see "Jessica Simpson, Nick Lachey Walk Down The Aisle"), one might think another duet is inevitable, but that's not the case — at least not yet. "We'd love to do it again, but it has to be the right opportunity, the right song, the right time," Lachey said recently. "Maybe next album."

While Simpson, who recently appeared on "That '70s Show" and filmed an episode of "The Twilight Zone," has been transitioning into acting, Lachey said he plans to concentrate on music until he has enough time to dive completely into drama.

In the meantime, Lachey is spending what little time he has outside of the studio exchanging e-mails with soldiers he met when Simpson did a USO tour near Afghanistan after September 11.

"We forget these are young guys, 18, 19 years old, fresh out of high school, and they're risking their lives to give us the kind of life we take for granted," Lachey said. "When something like this comes along, you have to appreciate what those people are doing. What's going on over there is unfortunate, but we have to follow the lead of our president. I support the guys that are over there fighting for our freedom and fighting for what we do for a living, which makes it possible for us to be performers and entertainers."

"Our prayers are with them, our hearts are with them," Simpson added.

• 98 Degrees
• Jessica Simpson

Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey
Photo: Columbia

Who says musicians make strange bedfellows? Jessica Simpson and 98 Degrees singer Nick Lachey are flourishing both creatively and romantically.

The couple, whose engagement was announced earlier this year (see "Jessica Simpson, Nick Lachey To Go All The Way"), got married last weekend at the Riverbend Chapel in Austin, Texas, Lachey's publicist said. A reception followed at the nearby Barton Creek Resort.

"I'm very excited," Lachey said recently of the impending ceremony. "When you know the situation's right, you don't have anything to worry about. I've got the normal kind of nerves [about marriage], It's certainly a new thing for me and for her, and we're really happy."

When the happy couple come down from their nuptial euphoria, they'll return to their musical endeavors. Lachey is still working on his first solo album, which he hopes to have ready for release early next year (see "98 Degrees' Nick Lachey Following In Footsteps Of Justin T., Nick C."), and he and Simpson are writing songs for her third record.

"She's doing something that's really neat," Lachey said. "She's finally writing her own music, which I've told her she could do forever but she's been shy about stepping out there and doing it. But she's an incredible writer, and she's doing stuff that's really from the heart.

"It's a much more organic record and it's more true to herself," he continued. "There's all live instrumentation and it's very musical as opposed to the pop thing that was happening before for her. I think she finally feels like this is her record and her chance to do exactly what she wants."

• Jessica Simpson
• 98 Degrees

'The Nick & Jessica Variety Hour'

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• 98 Degrees
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• 98 Degrees
• Jessica Simpson

• 98 Degrees

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