39. ASHLEE SIMPSON EMBARRASSED ON SNL
One of music's dirty little secrets was revealed on Oct. 23, 2004, when Ashlee Simpson tried to perform her new single, ''Autobiography,'' on Saturday Night Live. A vocal back-up recording played the lyrics for a different song, exposing that Simpson — like many pop singers — used a ''backing track'' in live performances. Flummoxed, Simpson danced an awkward jig and slinked off stage while the show cut to a commercial. ''My band started playing the wrong song,'' said Simpson at the end of the show. ''I didn't know what to do, so I thought I'd do a hoedown.'' (The singer's camp later blamed acid reflux as the need for voice enhancement.)
CAREER IMPACT Minor. Simpson documented the embarrassing episode on her MTV reality show, and was invited back to SNL in 2005. The second appearance didn't help her 2005 follow-up, I Am Me, however, which didn't crack the million mark.
