Sweet Kisses is the debut studio album by American singer Jessica Simpson, released in the United States on November 23, 1999, by Columbia Records. Its lyrical and visual representations carry the common theme of virginal innocence, a continuation of the late-1990s teen-pop revival. It was produced to capitalize on the success of teen artists Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, who both debuted earlier that year. Sweet Kisses was a hit in the US, peaking at number 25 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, and was certified 2× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of over two million copies. As of February 2009, it has sold 1.9 million copies in the US.
Sweet Kisses spawned three singles, including Simpson's debut single: "I Wanna Love You Forever", which is her biggest hit in the US. The second single was a duet: "Where You Are" with future husband Nick Lachey of 98 Degrees. The third single was a dance track: "I Think I'm in Love With You", which samples "Jack & Diane" by John Cougar Mellencamp.
Background
Simpson first developed and nurtured her talent in her local Baptist church, where her father also worked as the congregation's youth minister. At age twelve, she unsuccessfully auditioned for The Mickey Mouse Club. While attending a church camp, at the age of 13, Simpson sang Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" and an arrangement of "Amazing Grace". One of the camp's visitors was launching a Gospel music record label and saw great promise and profits in her voice. It was during this time, while attending J. J. Pearce High School, Simpson signed to Proclaim Records, a minor Gospel music record label. She recorded an album, Jessica, but Proclaim went bankrupt and the album was never officially released except for a small pressing funded by her grandmother. This small pressing gained her minor attention which led her to performing at concerts with other gospel legendary acts such as Kirk Franklin, God's Property, and CeCe Winans. When she was seventeen years old, Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola heard Jessica, he was impressed with Simpson's musical talent and skill. Mottola instantly thought Simpson sounded like Mariah Carey. Simpson was immediately signed to the label. She dropped out of high school but later earned her GED.
Simpson also collaborated with Sam Watters for the album. Watters produced the singles "I Wanna Love You Forever" and "Where You Are", as well as "Heart of Innocence". Watters also co-wrote the track "I Wanna Love You Forever", along with Louis Biancaniello. Carl Sturken and Evan Rogers also produced the tracks "I've Got My Eyes On You" and "Betcha She Don't Love You" together, though neither track was released as a single. Simpson's label wanted Sweet Kisses to be different from that of Aguilera's and Spears' debut albums, in that they were sexually risque, especially the lead singles from both albums. For Sweet Kisses, the label decided they wanted Simpson to be the "anti-sex appeal", to which Simpson would sing about love and romance rather than sexual themes. Simpson's "virgin" image was thought of as a great idea by the label, who felt that it would draw in listeners by making a girl whom they could relate to. Simpson also announced in an interview that she would be abstinent until marriage, which helped listeners give her the appearance the label was hoping for.
Release and promotion
Sweet Kisses was released on 23 November 1999 through Columbia Records in United States, Canada, Australia and Europe. Following year, it was released in Japan, on 19 January 2000 through Sony Music Entertainment. The album was released in the United Kingdom on 24 April 2000.
Singles
"I Wanna Love You Forever" was the first single released from the album in September 1999. The song became Simpson's highest-charting single in the United States, peaking at number three on the Billboard Hot 100. Its commercial sales were particularly strong, landing atop the Hot 100 Singles Sales for six weeks; the song later received a platinum certification. It was also a top ten hit in Canada. Worldwide, the single was also successful. It peaked within the top ten in most European nations and Australia, which reached the top ten in Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Belgium and Australia.
"Where You Are" was released as the second single from the album. The single failed to reach even the top fifty of the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at sixty-two. The song did, however, become a relative Adult Contemporary hit. The song became a hit on the Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales reaching number four. Internationally, the song was not released in major music markets excluding Canada.