Come again?
Earlier this month, Jessica Simpson made her (long-awaited?) return to the stage for the first time in 15 years when the singer/actress took the stage at Willie Nelson’s Luck Reunion just outside of Austin, Texas.
@thetraveladdict.com Jessica Simpson performs “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’” in Austin, Texas. @Jessica Simpson #jessicasinpson #austin #austintexas #luckreunion #thesebootsaremadeforwalkin 🎥: @garymillershoots ♬ original sound – thetraveladdict
Now, I’ll cut her some slack since she hasn’t been on stage in a while, but the performance was…well it was rough. Many in the comments encouraged her to continue to focus on her shoe brand instead, and others compared it to a bad version of karaoke.
But apparently Simpson is ready to make a comeback in the music world, dropping a new EP Nashville Canyon, Pt. 1 earlier this month. It’s her first project since 2021, and features co-writes from some heavy hitters in the country music world like John Osborne, Natalie Hemby and Aaron Raitiere (who co-wrote Ella Langley’s viral hit “You Look Like You Love Me.”)
Of course after all this time you might expect that Simpson’s voice isn’t in the same shape that it used to be. But recently she revealed her secret for improving her singing voice: Snake sperm.
In a video posted to Instagram, the singer described the “Chinese herb thing” her vocal coach recommended for her:
“They’re like, ‘What are you drinking?’ Cause it’s like this Chinese herb thing. And I’m like, ‘I don’t know. My vocal coach told me to drink it.’
And they Googled the ingredient. And snake sperm.”
Simpson compared the drink to a honey (I’m not sure what kind of honey she eats but I would hope that mine doesn’t have snake jizz in it) and apparently she’s convinced that it helps her voice:
“So if you want a good vocal you gotta drink snake sperm.”
Gotta be honest, after hearing her perform recently, I’m not sure the snake sperm is doing the trick.
Celebrating Sobriety
Something else that’s no doubt helped her voice (probably more than snake sperm) is getting sober. Back in 2023, Simpson revealed that she was four years sober and shared some old photos of herself that she called “unrecognizable.”
She said it was in this moment she knew it was time to “take back my light,” adding that a big part of that was quitting alcohol to keep her mind clear.
Simpson said it had now been four years since she’s had a drink on the journey to find “personal power with soulful courage.”
You can read the entire post below, and it’s pretty interesting and insightful on her journey thus far:
“This person in the early morning of Nov 1, 2017 is an unrecognizable version of myself. I had so much self discovery to unlock and explore. I knew in this very moment I would allow myself to take back my light, show victory over my internal battle of self respect, and brave this world with piercing clarity.
Personally, to do this I needed to stop drinking alcohol because it kept my mind and heart circling in the same direction and quite honestly I was exhausted. I wanted to feel the pain so I could carry it like a badge of honor.
I wanted to live as a leader does and break cycles to advance forward- never looking back with regret and remorse over any choice I have made and would make for the rest of my time here within this beautiful world. I can’t believe it has been 4yrs! It feels like maybe 2. I think that is a good thing. Ha.
There is so much stigma around the word alcoholism or the label of an alcoholic. The real work that needed to be done in my life was to actually accept failure, pain, brokenness, and self sabotage. The drinking wasn’t the issue. I was. I didn’t love myself. I didn’t respect my own power. Today I do.
I have made nice with the fears and I have accepted the parts of my life that are just sad. I own my personal power with soulful courage. I am wildly honest and comfortably open. I am free.”
