Jessica Simpson reveals record label told her to lose 15 pounds when she weighed just 115

• Simpson revealed she was told to lose 15 pounds when she weighed just 115 pounds
• She was only 17 years old when her record label made the weight demands
• The singer said she always felt like a failure due to industry pressure in her early career

Singer Jessica Simpson, 45, has spoken openly about the body image pressures she faced early in her career, revealing that her record label instructed her to lose 15 pounds when she was just 17 years old and weighed 115 pounds.

Simpson made the disclosures during a concert in Pennsylvania on Thursday, addressing the crowd directly about the demands placed on her when she first broke into the music industry. The revelations shed light on the intense scrutiny she faced as executives pushed her to compete with contemporaries Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera.

Pressure to fit a pop star mould

Simpson told the audience that from the outset, her label had a very specific vision for who she needed to be. "So when I first started singing, I was — to everyone at the record label — supposed to be this pop star," she said. She explained the commercial logic behind the pressure: "You know, there's Britney Spears, there's Christina Aguilera, we love them, we support them. I had to, like, follow in their footsteps."

The I Wanna Love You Forever hitmaker said she had believed her voice alone was what got her signed, only to be confronted with physical expectations almost immediately. "And I really thought that I was signed just because of my voice, and all of a sudden it was like, 'OK, you need to lose 15 pounds — and by the way, I was 115 pounds," she told the crowd.

'I always felt like a failure'

The demands did not stop at weight loss. Simpson revealed that label executives also told her she "needed to have a six pack — which was definitely not going to happen." She responded to those expectations with characteristic candour: "I'm just not built that way, you know? I have a belly a little bit."

Reflecting on the cumulative effect of those pressures, she described feeling perpetually inadequate. "There were just all these things that I had to be to be Jessica Simpson, or the version of Jessica Simpson that they believed I should be, that would be successful," she said. "I always felt like a failure because I was never good enough," she admitted.

Simpson on performing and new music

Despite the difficult memories, Simpson expressed deep affection for live performance. "I feel like walking onstage is almost more comfortable than my living room at home," she said. "And it's such a beautiful feeling. It really is." The I Think I'm In Love With You singer also revealed she has spent the past three years working on a new album.