Coco Lee

Biography

CoCo Lee (Chinese: 李玟; 17 January 1975 – 5 July 2023) was a Hong Kong American singer, songwriter, and actress. She was one of the best-selling artists in Asia and is widely regarded as a significant figure. Her career began in 1993 in Hong Kong, and she later gained prominence in Taiwan through a series of commercially successful albums, establishing herself as an icon. In 2000 she expanded her career to the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, becoming one of the earliest Asian singers to establish a presence across multiple international markets. She released 18 studio albums, 2 live records, and 5 compilations.
Lee, who was described as the "Asian Mariah Carey", was noted for her Americanized dance routines. She voiced the lead character of Fa Mulan in the Mandarin version of the 1998 Disney film Mulan and sang its theme song, "Reflection".
Lee was the first Chinese singer to have music released globally, making her the first Chinese singer to break into the western market. Her 1999 album Just No Other Way×Just No Other Way2 November 1999 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Do You Want My Love3:532Just No Other Way4:153Can't Get Over (featuring Kelly Price)4:084Did You Really Love Me4:035Before I Fall In Love3:446Wherever You Go4:197I Will Be Your Friend3:298All Tied Up In You4:189Don't You Want My Love3:5310Crazy Ridiculous3:0411Can We Talk About It4:0012Do You Want My Love (Kenny Diaz Remix)3:55 was the first ever English-language album recorded by a Chinese singer. Her 2000 single "Do You Want My Love×Do You Want My Love1999 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 5 tracks1Do You Want My Love (w/o rap)3:532Do You Want My Love (album version)4:363Do You Want My Love (Kenny Diaz radio edit)3:554Do You Want My Love (Hex Hector MIX)7:455Do You Want My Love (alternate Lyric w/o rap)3:51" achieved international success, appearing on the US Billboard Hot Dance Breakouts Chart at No. 4 and entering the top 50 of the US Billboard Dance Club Songs Chart while also peaking at No. 14 on the Australian Singles Chart and No. 20 on the Official Chart in New Zealand.
Her 2000 song "A Love Before Time×A Love Before Time2000 · Single · SoundtrackSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1A Love Before Time3:392Green Destiny (Love Theme)2:223The Eternal Vow3:004A Love Before Time (Mandarin)3:39", from the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song, and she performed it at the 73rd Academy Awards, becoming the first, and so far only, Chinese artist to perform at the Oscars. Lee was also the first Asian-American singer to sing the US National Anthem at an NBA game, the first Asian singer to hold a concert at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the first non-mainland Chinese singer to win the Chinese singing reality show I Am a Singer, and the first Asian brand ambassador for Chanel. In her final years, Lee struggled with health problems, having been diagnosed with depression in 2019. She died by suicide in Hong Kong in 2023, aged 48.

Early life

Ferren Lee was born on 17 January 1975 in Hong Kong or Wuhan. She was a posthumous child, as her father had died before her birth due to an illness. Lee had physical defects in her left leg, causing lifelong challenges. After her husband's death, Lee's mother moved the family to Hong Kong to seek support from relatives. They faced difficult times there before emigrating to the US when Lee was nine years old. Lee had two elder sisters, Carol and Nancy, the latter of whom would become Lee's manager early in her career. Growing up in San Francisco, Lee attended Redding Elementary School, Presidio Middle School, and Raoul Wallenberg Traditional High School. She won Miss Teen Chinatown San Francisco in 1991.

At the age of 17, Lee won a local singing contest twice. After graduating from high school in 1993, she entered a TVB competition in Hong Kong and was offered a recording contract. She attempted to juggle her singing career in Hong Kong with her pre-medical studies at the University of California, Irvine, but she eventually left school after one year. During an interview in 1997, Lee said she had never intended to become a star. Her goal in life had been to become a surgeon, following in her mother's footsteps.

Beginnings and Sony Music: 1993–1998

In 1993, Lee returned to Hong Kong to visit her sisters. While there, she took part in the 12th annual New Talent Singing Awards and was the first runner-up, singing Whitney Houston's Run to You. The following day, Capital Artists offered her a recording contract.
When she was 18, Lee came to Taiwan to start her music career. Advised by her sister, Lee chose "Coco" as her English stage name and "Li Wen" (李玟) as her Chinese stage name.
She made her debut on compilation albums such as Red Hot Hits '93 Autumn Edition (zh). In 1994, she released her first solo albums in Mandarin in Taiwan, Love from Now On and Promise×Promise9 October 2001 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1So Crazy2刀馬旦3Baby 對不起4藍天5愛太多6逃脫7I'm Still in Love8不變的諾言9愛是那麽真10倒數開始 Me, through Fancy Pie Records. Her English-language cover album Brave Enough to Love and her third Mandarin album, Woman in Love, came out the following year.
In 1996, Lee signed with Sony Music Entertainment. Her next Mandarin album, CoCo Lee, became the best-selling record in Asia that year. She subsequently released another English cover album, CoCo's Party, also in 1996. The following year, she issued the Mandarin album Each Time I Think of You as well as a Cantonese record, COCO, the only one she ever recorded in that language. In 1998, her Mandarin album Di Da Di Hints came out, selling one million copies in less than three months.

International collaborations and English debut: 1998–2005

From Lee's next album, Sunny Day Feelin' Good, the track "Colors of the World" was used for the opening of the 1998 FIFA World Cup, and "The Answer" (答案) was featured in the Chinese movie Bishonen. In 1998, Lee was hired by Walt Disney Pictures to sing the theme song "Reflection" (自己; translation: "myself") and voice Fa Mulan in the Mandarin version of Mulan (花木蘭). The same year, she sang "Missing You in 365 Days" (zh), one of the theme songs of the film Lotus Lantern, the first commercial animated feature film in mainland China.

In August 1998, Lee performed in Taiwan to an audience of more than 50,000 fans. The next year, she performed in a "Michael Jackson and friends" charity concert and later released the Mandarin album From Today Till Forever. Later that year, under 550 Music, she released her first English album of original songs, titled Just No Other Way×Just No Other Way2 November 1999 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Do You Want My Love3:532Just No Other Way4:153Can't Get Over (featuring Kelly Price)4:084Did You Really Love Me4:035Before I Fall In Love3:446Wherever You Go4:197I Will Be Your Friend3:298All Tied Up In You4:189Don't You Want My Love3:5310Crazy Ridiculous3:0411Can We Talk About It4:0012Do You Want My Love (Kenny Diaz Remix)3:55, which included the hit "Do You Want My Love×Do You Want My Love1999 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 5 tracks1Do You Want My Love (w/o rap)3:532Do You Want My Love (album version)4:363Do You Want My Love (Kenny Diaz radio edit)3:554Do You Want My Love (Hex Hector MIX)7:455Do You Want My Love (alternate Lyric w/o rap)3:51". The song reached No. 4 on the US Billboard Hot Dance Breakouts chart in December, making Lee the first Chinese singer to break into the American market. Her love song "Before I Fall in Love" was included in the soundtrack to the movie Runaway Bride. She also recorded the duet "Can't Get Over" with Kelly Price. In Asia, she released the Mandarin album True Lover You & Me. By 2000, she had released 20 albums in Asia and sold 7.5 million copies of her records on that continent.
In 2001, Lee sang the song "A Love Before Time×A Love Before Time2000 · Single · SoundtrackSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1A Love Before Time3:392Green Destiny (Love Theme)2:223The Eternal Vow3:004A Love Before Time (Mandarin)3:39" for the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which she performed at the Oscars. The track was introduced by the actress Julia Stiles as an "evocative love ballad" that combined "the flavor and texture of Eastern music with the orchestral color and sensitive lyrics of Western culture". Lee's next album, Promise×Promise9 October 2001 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1So Crazy2刀馬旦3Baby 對不起4藍天5愛太多6逃脫7I'm Still in Love8不變的諾言9愛是那麽真10倒數開始, was released in October 2001 and included a Mandarin cover song titled "Baby, I'm Sorry" (Baby 對不起). The track placed at No. 35 on the Taiwan Yearly Singles Top 100 chart that year. In 2002, Lee released the remix album D. Is Coco (Dance Is Coco). She also sang an anti-tobacco song called "From the Beginning 'til the End" (煙絲萬縷) with singer Jacky Cheung. The same year, at the NBA debut of Yao Ming, Lee performed the US national anthem and became the first Chinese-American singer to sing at an NBA game. She also sang the anti-racism song "A Dream of One" with Korean singer Park Jin-young. In 2003, she performed with Shaggy at the MTV Asia Awards in Singapore and also hosted the show with him. Lee recorded the charity singles "Hand in Hand" for SARS with other artists, including Wang Leehom, Stefanie Sun, Elva Hsiao, and Jolin Tsai.
Lee co-starred in the Chinese comedy movie Master of Everything (自娱自乐) with John Lone, which won the Best Foreign Film award at the 2005 Beverly Hills Film Festival.

Second English album and Warner Music: 2005–2011

In 2005, Sony BMG released Lee's second English album, Exposed×Exposed25 March 2005 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Step In1:152No Doubt3:273Gotta Clue3:474Hush4:535So Good3:516Touch4:247Rock It3:398All Around the World3:089Belly Dance3:1610Cool3:5611Music We Make3:3412No Doubt3:2713Magic Words4:04. It was banned in mainland China for "sexy" lyrics in a few songs, such as "Touch" and "So Good". Lee's next Mandarin album, Just Want You, came out on 22 September 2006. In 2008, she was chosen to sing one of the Summer Olympics songs, "Forever Friends", alongside Sun Nan.
As the first Asian singer to perform at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, Lee had a solo concert there in July 2009, singing some of Michael Jackson's songs in homage to her idol. On 14 August 2009, she released a new Mandarin album, East to West, with Warner Music Group. It includes the song "Turn" (流轉), which was on the soundtrack to the film The Legend of Silk Boy. Lee also recorded the song "Smile Shanghai" (微笑上海), with artists including JJ Lin, Andy Lau, Jam Hsiao, and Jane Zhang, for the Shanghai World Expo 2010. On 27 March 2010, she began her East2West World Tour at Taipei Arena, in Taiwan. She performed at the Encore Theatre in Wynn Casino in Las Vegas on 3 and 4 July, then at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on 2 October and in Nanning on 16 December. In March 2011, Lee was one of many artists who participated in the recording of the Artistes 311 Love Beyond Borders official theme song, "Succumb Not to Sorrow" (不要輸給心痛), on the Cantonese version. On 7 April 2011, her song "Dreams on Oriental Seas" (梦在东方的海上), featuring Sun Nan, was broadcast. It was named as the theme for the 14th FINA World Championships, which took place in Shanghai on 16 July.

New album and final projects before death: 2011–2023

On 8 June 2011, Lee announced that she had set up her own recording studio. On 25 June, her song "Four Seas Alliance" (四海盟約), the theme for the 2011 China television drama All Men are Brothers, was broadcast. On 17 December, she performed at the Booey Lehoo Concert in Beijing with will.i.am and apl.de.ap from the Black Eyed Peas as well as with John Legend and Shunza. On 9 February 2012, she performed at the TRANS4M Boyle Heights benefit at Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, with will.i.am, apl.de.ap, and Taboo.
Her next album, Illuminate, was released on 31 May 2013 by Universal Music. She was a judge on the 2015 version of Dancing with the Stars in China.
In 2016, Lee competed in the fourth season of the Chinese reality show I Am a Singer, where she admitted that losing her voice to bronchitis in 2014 had affected her singing ability. Regardless, she went on to win the competition, making her the first non-mainland Chinese singer to do so. She later returned as a guest singer for two more seasons: in the fifth season, during the biennial concert, and in the sixth as a guest performer for Jessie J, the eventual winner of that season. In 2020, she announced that she was going to re-record the Mandarin end-credits version of the song "Reflection" for the live adaptation of Mulan, as she had already done in 1998.

Sing! China disputes

In September 2022, Lee was a coach during season 7 of the show Sing! China where she questioned the fairness of the judges during the competition. In an audio recording that was later leaked after her death, she commented that the production team retaliated against her during the show's final episode. Lee, who was about to undergo surgery on her left leg, alleged that a sudden placement change caused her to stand alone in her heels and later fall during a duet. She described the experience as "humiliating", since her health issues had been largely concealed from the public. She also said that the production team refused to give her mentee Feige a chance to return to the stage unless Lee writes a specific Weibo post, to which she complied so that Feige could display his talent again. The show was subsequently pulled off air and investigated by Chinese authorities.
In January 2023, Lee was digitally animated using motion capture for the virtual reality interactive concert Millennium Realm (千禧之境) on the Pico VR video platform.

Philanthropy

Lee was actively involved in the work of UNICEF as a youth ambassador, promoting children's rights and their well-being. She supported the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which grants children with critical illness their wishes. She was also an ambassador for the Organisation for World Peace in China, Cancer Fund's Pink Ambassador at Hong Kong's first breast cancer survivors' fashion show in 2016, and Youth AIDS ambassador at a global AIDS conference in Bangkok, Thailand, in 2004.

Marriage

Lee married Hong Kong-based Canadian businessman Bruce Rockowitz on 27 October 2011 in a Jewish ceremony. The wedding included performances by Bruno Mars, Alicia Keys, and Ne-Yo. For her occasion, Lee recorded the song "I Just Wanna Marry U" (in both Chinese and English versions), which was released on 24 October 2011. In March 2018, she mentioned in a brand event that she was undergoing IVF in New York. Before she died, Lee had no biological children but had two stepdaughters from her husband's previous marriage.
In 2017, Rockowitz admitted to cheating on Lee. It has been reported that he continued to have affairs, which were known to friends and families. Lee experienced severe mental anguish as a result and attempted to file for divorce three times. Rockowitz denies that he continued having affairs. The couple had separated before Lee's death and were due to sign divorce papers in July 2023.

Health issues

Lee was born with an abnormality in her left leg. At the age of two, she underwent surgery, which failed to correct the problem, causing her to rely more heavily on her right leg for most of her life.
Lee received a diagnosis of depression in 2019. Her sister stated that the condition had deteriorated drastically in the few months before Lee's death, though she had sought professional help.
Lee was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2022 and had a tumor removed. In December, the singer reported her weight as 42 kg (92 lbs), sparking concerns for her health. On 8 March 2023, she disclosed on social media that she had had surgery on her pelvis and thigh in Hong Kong the previous month, after triggering an old leg injury during a dance rehearsal in October 2022. She shared videos of herself learning to walk again with the aid of a walker as well as a nurse. Lee had to take muscle relaxant medication after the surgery, an insider said.

Death

Lee attempted suicide on 29 June 2023. She spent one night in a private hospital, before moving to her sisters' house at the Peak. She made another suicide attempt on 2 July and was taken to the hospital, where she died three days later, on 5 July, at the age of 48. News of her death received significant attention in China, getting almost 1.4 billion views on Weibo in one day.
Lee's family asked Hong Kong authorities to investigate her death, and an autopsy was requested to determine the cause.

Services and tributes

Lee's sister Nancy has urged the government of Hong Kong to officially recognize the star's contributions. A vigil for Lee was held on 31 July at Hong Kong Funeral Home in North Point, with a public memorial service. There were eight pallbearers at the funeral, including Lee's brother-in-law, singer Jenny Tseng, and lyricist and music producer Chien Yao. A private funeral service was held on 1 August.
Rockowitz's name was missing from multiple announcements made by Lee's sisters. It was reported that towards the end of the 31 July service, Nancy became emotional when hugging a friend and was heard shouting repeatedly in Cantonese: "He took my sister away!" Carol, the eldest sister, was also heard shouting: "She's saying he caused my sister to die!" Their cries did not name any person and lasted for some time, before the audio was muted. On 1 August, when asked to say something to Lee outside the crematorium, Rockowitz, who was being mobbed by the star's angry fans, said, "I love her. My whole life". Rockowitz came under criticism after Lee's death, and he has sought to dispel various allegations against him.
On 21 October 2023, Lee's ashes were buried at the Shimen Peak Memorial Park in Wuhan, China. According to one of her sisters, it was their mother's wish that the ashes of Lee, who had not met her father when she was little, be placed next to his.

Artistry and legacy

Lee was inspired by musicians such as Whitney Houston, Madonna, Michael Jackson, and Mariah Carey. Since techniques employed by R&B singers in English would change the pitch and meaning of words in Cantonese, she taught herself Mandarin, which allows for more tonal flexibility.
She was remembered by The New York Times as "a Chinese American singer and songwriter best known for performing an Oscar-nominated song in the hit film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". She is remembered by millennials who grew up during a time when Mandopop boomed and who enjoyed listening to her songs in English and Mandarin. She has been called the "Asian Mariah Carey" due to her impressive voice and dancing skills. She has also been credited for breaking down international barriers and bridging the gap between East Asia and the West.