Pop star Coco Lee passed away at the age of 48. The Asian singer was a huge sensation in the 1990s and 2000s.
A Hong Kong born singer, Lee later immigrated to the US when she was very young and has albums in both Mandarin and English. In the 2001 Oscars, she performed a song from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’s soundtrack. Another memorable moment in her career was that she lent her voice for the protagonist of the Disney animated movie, Mulan, in the mandarin version. Not only this, Lee is the singer for Reflection, sang in Mandarin from the same movie.
According to her sisters, she attempted suicide over the weekend at home and remained in coma since then. She was immediately taken to the hospital. Coco Lee had been dealing with depression for a while, wrote her elder sisters Carol and Nancy in a Facebook post.
“Not only did she bring us joy with her songs and dances in the past 29 years, she also worked hard to break new ground for Chinese singers in the international music scene and has been doing her utmost to shine for the Chinese,” Lee’s sisters wrote.
With her two Mandarin albums in 1994, Lee became famous in field of Mandopop. The very next year she came out with an English album along with a third Mandarin album. Her 1999 English song ‘Before I Fall in Love’ was included in the soundtrack for the movie Runaway Bride, starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere.
On New Year’s Eve last year, Lee wrote on Instagram that she had “faced major life-changing hurdles” and that 2022 was an “incredibly difficult.”
Tragic, her newest song, was published on February 14 of this year.
She revealed on Facebook in March that she had undergone pelvic and thigh surgery after a dance practice at the end of last year activated an old injury.
Lee wed Bruce Rockowitz in 2011, the former CEO of the Hong Kong-based supply chain behemoth Li & Fung. Her two daughters live with them but they are from Lee’s previous marriage.
About three years ago, there were rumours that they had broken up, but Lee never addressed them.
On Wednesday, Lee’s sisters wrote: “In addition to remembering Coco, I hope that you will share her trademark bright smile, honesty and kindness with everyone around you, and continue Coco’s wish that all those around her will feel her love and joy.”
