Jessica Simpson Opens Up About Eric Johnson Split

With her return to music now underway, Jessica Simpson is taking time to open up about her split from her husband of a decade, Eric Johnson.

Simpson surprised fans with an intimate performance of songs from her new EP, “Nashville Canyon Pt. 1,” at Texas’ Luck Reunion festival last week. During the set, the singer and reality television personality alluded to the demise of her relationship with Johnson, with whom she shares three children.

“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 explained, as seen in TikTok footage of the show. “I found out that my world had been turned upside down, and that life was now very different. I am a very single lady.”

Though Simpson didn’t mention Johnson by name, she added: “When we open our hearts, sometimes we’re vulnerable, and it just gets broken. And 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, when we connect with ourselves — we find all the answers.”

She then launched into her first-ever live performance of her new single, “Leave,” which she described as “a heartbreak, pissed-off song.”

Released earlier this month, “Leave” features lyrics that hint at a romantic partner’s infidelity. “Your weakness made me lonely, unholy matrimony,” Simpson sings on the track. “I’d rather die than let you be inside me with her on your mind.”

Johnson and Simpson confirmed in January that they’d gone their separate ways after 10 years of marriage.

“Eric and I have been living separately navigating a painful situation in our marriage,” Simpson said in a Jan. 14 statement. “Our children come first, and we are focusing on what is best for them.”

Due out Friday, “Nashville Canyon Pt. 1” is Simpson’s first release of original music since her 2008 album, “Did You Know.”

Simpson unveiled several of the new songs ― as well as covers of Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’” and Dusty Springfield’s “Son of a Preacher Man” ― at South by Southwest (SXSW) last week. A second EP, “Nashville Canyon Pt. 2,” is currently slated to drop this summer.

Speaking to People last month, Simpson said she wasn’t disheartened by the end of her marriage, “I am strong. Maybe I’m just meant to love a lot of people in my life.”

Still, she added: “Having this creative outlet, it’s like your heart breaks and you go into a songwriting session – like going straight into therapy. I have always said it was cheesy when people said the music saved my life but it truly saved mine.”