JESSICA SIMPSON: Heart break & Healing

In the fall of 2023, Jessica Simpson headed to Nashville, Tenn., to record her first album in 15 years. She was about halfway through when her decade-long marriage to former NFL player Eric Johnson finally ended after months of speculation about problems in the union.

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SEPARATE WAYS A source tells Star the former couple are "still navigating" through their split, which they announced in early January.

The parents of Maxwell, 12, Ace, 11, and Birdie, 5, announced their split in January, with Jessica revealing that the two had indeed been living separately, “navigating a painful situation.”

With her heart broken at the failure of her marriage, the former pop princess has found solace in music. “Through the deepest heartbreak of my life, it was the most intense yet enlightening therapy I’ve ever been through,” Jessica revealed of recording her new album, Nashville Canyon, in an intimate new interview with younger sister Ashlee Simpson, 40, in The Cut. Writing through the pain was cathartic, a source tells Star. “The lyrics poured out of her, and she has to say her new music is the best, most honest work she’s churned out.” (The country-rock LP comes out March 21, following the debut of its first single, “Use My Heart Against Me,” Feb. 21.)