Jessica Simpson performed her unreleased song 'Give It All Away' at a concert in Highland, California on Monday night, using the moment to open up about her past alcoholism. The singer and entrepreneur, who has been sober since November 2017, detailed how alcohol once silenced her intuition and blocked her dreams, according to her own social media posts and an interview with People.

The Halloween 2017 rock bottom that forced her hand

Simpson has repeatedly described Halloween 2017 as her lowest point. According to her memoir Open Book, she was too inebriated to help dress her three children — Maxwell, then 14; Ace, 12; and Birdie, seven — in their costumes. She recalled being in the passenger seat at 7:30 a .m. that day, having already had a drink, while on the way to a school assembly for her daughter. Later, she said she was terrified of letting her team see her in that shape as they helped her prepare for a Halloween party.

After the party, Simpson took an Ambien to sleep, and the next day she told close friends: “I need to stop. Something’s got to stop. And if it’s alcohol that’s doing this and making things worse, then I quit.” That moment became the catalyst for her decision to get sober.

Why 'Give It All Away' is more than a song — it's a confession co-written with Linda Perry

The unreleased track, co-written with renowned producer Linda Perry, was performed as the centerpiece of Simpson's Monday night set at Yaamava Resort & Casino. Before singing, Simpson told the audience the song is about her drinking problems, as the source article reports. In a 2025 interview with People, she explained that the moment she started drinking heavily corresponded with writing music in 2016: “The moment I started drinking too much was when I started writing music in 2016 and it was making me go to places and feel sorry for myself.”

Sobriety, she said, has unlocked a deeper creative honesty. “I actually am so much more honest without alcohol, and I actually believe myself so much more without alcohol,” she told People.. The song title itself, 'Give It All Away,' echoes her willingness to surrender control—a theme she also touched on in a November 2025 Instagram post celebrating eight years sober, where she wrote , “It was not in the fight that I found my strength, it was in the surrender.”

The Ellen interview she can't watch: a decade of public and private struggle

Simpson has admitted she was drunk during her famous 2017 interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, where she was noticeably slurring her words. As the source article notes, she later said: “I can’t watch it.. It was a weak moment for me and I wasn’t in the right place.” That public slip, captured on video, became a glaring symbol of her escalating alcohol misuse. Although Simpson has not disclosed any new music projects beyond this single performance, the very act of returning to the stage to perform a deeply personal song suggests a creative reawakening fueled by clarity.

Still, open questions remain. The source article mentions that Simpson announced her separation from husband Eric Johnson in January 2025, but does not detail how that life change interacts with her sobriety journey. With three children and a billion-dollar lifestyle brand to manage, fans and media alike are watching to see whether she will release a full album or memoir update that addresses this new chapter.