Simmons attended college at
Northwestern University, and was crowned Miss Chicago and
Miss Illinois in 1999. She was named first runner-up at the
Miss America 2000 pageant. In 2004, Simmons founded the Impulse Artists Series which was the 2009 winner of the
Houston Press Best Non-Profit Arts Series. Simmons' first album was titled
Revolutionary Rhythm, and was released in 2009. She released the single "Boss's Nova" in September 2012, and the
Playing With Fire EP followed by a second full release on E1 titled
#PaganiniProject in February 2013.
Time noted that in her "Decomposed" podcast, Simmons "blends history, scandal and musical analysis" and
Esquire called it "a great introduction to appreciating classical music". ==Politics==