Jessica Simpson is opening up about her shocking heartbreak.
The singer, 44, got candid about writing her new EP “Nashville Canyon, Part 1” amid her split from husband Eric Johnson, with whom she split in January following 10 years of marriage.
“I was out in Nashville and I had my heart wide open, I was in a very intuitive state and I had to ask some very personal questions on the home front,” Simpson said while performing on Wednesday in Texas, as seen on TikTok. “I found out that my world had been turned upside down and that life was very different.”
She continued, “I am now a very single lady.”
Simpson made it clear she channeled all of her emotions into her new EP, which drops later this month.
“When we open our hearts, sometimes we’re vulnerable and it just gets broken,” she said at the show. “Maybe sometimes we forget that we’ve been broken for a really long time, but when we meet ourselves, when we write, when we sing [and] when we connect with ourselves, we find all the answers.”
Simpson’s performance marked her first live concert in 15 years at the Recording Academy’s Austin Chapter Block Party at SXSW.
The pop star debuted her new tracks: “Use My Heart Against Me,” “Sunday Lover” and the break-up anthem “Leave.”
Simpson and Johnson, 45, started dating in 2010 before tying the knot in 2014. The former couple share three kids together, Maxwell, 12, Ace, 11, and Birdie, 5.
In January, the retired athlete and actress revealed they had separated.
“Eric and I have been living separately navigating a painful situation in our marriage,” Simpson told People magazine in a statement at the time.
“Our children come first, and we are focusing on what is best for them. We are grateful for all of the love and support that has been coming our way, and appreciate privacy right now as we work through this as a family.”
In the wake of their split, “The Dukes of Hazzard” actress has fully immersed herself into music to help her get through it.
Despite their breakup, Simpson credited Johnson’s support for allowing her to spend time in Nashville creating the EP.
“It is a gift,” Simpson expressed. “Eric supported that gift. My kids supported that gift. We were out in Nashville for Maxwell’s 11th birthday, and she’s 12 now.”
Earlier this month, Simpson dropped her new single “Leave,” where she hints at the demise of a relationship due to infidelity.
“What we had was magic/ Now you’ve made it tragic/ Giving her what you gave to me/ Now the well that you drank from’s empty,” Simpson sings on the track.
“Your weakness made me lonely/ Unholy matrimony/ Did you do to her what you did to me?/ Was she on her knees?”
Later in the tune, the actress belts out that she would rather be by herself.
“We’re not doing this again/ I, I want you to leave/ I don’t even want to breathe the air you breathe/I’d rather die/ Than let you be inside me with her on your mind/ I am stronger on my own/ So I’m letting you go.”
In a behind-the-scenes YouTube video, Simpson explained what it was like to make this track.
“Leave is a hard lyric for me to write,” she shared. “It was tapping into some stuff that was scary to tap into. But I needed to get it out.”
“After writing all the lyrics and the melodies I realized like ‘Why would I want to show off,’” expressed Simpson. “There’s so much power in being able to be subtle. And that’s probably the best lesson I’ve had in this whole process. Is that, music is about communicating, not yelling at people.”
“Nashville Canyon, Part 1” drops March 21st.
