Jessica Simpson released her latest single “Fade” on Tuesday, July 22, marking her first new music since her EP Nashville Canyon, Pt. 1 dropped last year.
The track appears to address the end of her marriage to former NFL player Eric Johnson, 45.
“You can always say you love me / That doesn’t mean that I feel loved / There’s a green light in the distance / And all your words become too much / Well I won’t repeat this history / The kind I’ve seen times before / Here’s the part, I should say I miss you / But I think you’ll miss me more,”
Simpson, 45, sings on the rock track.
The “Breadcrumbs” artist doesn’t hold back in later verses. She calls her lover “as empty as your promise” and tells them to “go sleep alone in the bed you made.”
Simpson also expresses her desire for emotional security, singing that she wants her heart “to feel held safe.”
“I know that home is a feeling / And not a place / Oh, there won’t be a next time / Cause I won’t break,”
she continues.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4hsl0KTAjo
Live Performance Debut
Simpson performed “Fade” along with several other songs during a four-hour set for the Today show’s Citi Concert Series on July 23.
“How does it feel back on the stage, the first release in 15 years?” NBC correspondent Peter Alexander asked the fashion designer.
“It’s insane. And of course I had a malfunction here and everywhere, but it’s okay. I think my boobs stayed in, so it’s okay,”
Simpson replied, wearing a pink corset dress with feathered fringe skirt and silver sparkly jacket.
Personal Struggles Behind the Music
Simpson teased the track on Instagram one week before its release, revealing the emotional context behind the song.
“I was in a rough place when the day came around for this writing session, however I was not going to crawl under my sheets, hide, and cry. Instead, I chose to rise and shine. It immediately encouraged confrontation to heal a layer of pain,”
she wrote in the caption.
Simpson and Johnson announced their separation in January after nearly 10 years of marriage.
“Eric and I have been living separately navigating a painful situation in our marriage,”
she told PEOPLE in a statement at the time.
Johnson was spotted without his wedding ring in November 2024. A source told PEOPLE that the couple “very much live separate lives.”
The former couple met in 2010 and married in 2014. They share three children: Maxwell Drew, 13, Ace Knute, 12, and Birdie Mae, 5.
“Fade” marks Simpson’s return to music after releasing Nashville Canyon, Pt. 1, her first EP in 15 years.
