CoCo Lee, a singer from Hong Kong who achieved international fame over the course of a long career in Asia, committed suicide, according to her family. Aged 48.
CoCo Lee, a singer from Hong Kong who achieved international fame over the course of a long career in Asia, committed suicide, according to her family. Aged 48.
The actress had been dealing with depression in previous years, but "her condition deteriorated drastically over the last few months," according to a message on Instagram from her two older sisters, Carol and Nancy Lee.
On Sunday, Lee made an attempt at suicide at home. She was brought to the hospital, where staff members worked to bring her out of a coma. Her sisters said that she passed away on Wednesday, three days later.
The statement continues, "Despite CoCo seeking professional help and trying her best to fight depression, sadly that demon inside of her took the better of her."
Her sisters point out that Lee's singing career, which brought her enormous fame throughout China and Taiwan, especially in the late 1990s and early 2000s, is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. In Taiwan, her passing sparked an outpouring of mourning as well as nonstop news coverage.
One of Lee's most recognizable roles was as Fa Mulan in the Mandarin-language adaptation of the Disney classic Mulan, which is about the fabled Chinese folk heroine. She also performed Reflection, the movie's theme song, in Mandarin.
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In the action-adventure martial arts film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Lee performed the love ballad A Love Before Time, catapulting her to international renown. She is renowned for performing the Oscar-nominated song during the 2001 Academy Awards show in front of hundreds of thousands of people.
Lee's sisters noted in their statement that she "won countless international acclaim with top-selling songs and has left the audience with an astounding impression of her excellent live performances."
"CoCo is also known for working tirelessly to open up a new world for Chinese singers in the international music scene, and she went all out to shine for the Chinese." "We are so proud of her!" they wrote.
Ferren Lee was born in Hong Kong and later migrated to the United States with her family, where she attended middle and high school in San Francisco. Lee earned first runner-up in a singing contest during a visit back to Hong Kong after high school, launching her music career.
Lee joined Sony Music Entertainment in 1996, and her debut album, Coco Lee, became the best-selling record in Asia that year.
Though Lee began as a Mandopop singer, she eventually ventured out to release albums in Cantonese and English, selling millions of copies. In December 1999, her English single Do You Want My Love peaked at No. 4 on Billboard's Hot Dance Breakouts chart.
Lee married Bruce Rockowitz, a Canadian businessman and former CEO of Hong Kong supply chain giant Li & Fung, in 2011. Lee had two stepdaughters from her marriage to Rockowitz, but no children of her own.