Singer and songwriter Coco Lee has died at the age of 48.
Lee had been dealing with depression for a while, according to Carol and Nancy, Lee's older sisters, in a Facebook post.
She attempted suicide at home on Sunday and was taken to hospital, where she passed away on Wednesday, according to reports.
Who was Coco Lee?
Ferren “Coco” Lee was born in Hong Kong and later emigrated to the US at the age of nine.
Later, Lee returned to Hong Kong to pursue a music career. She got her nickname “CoCo” from being an admirer of CoCo Chanel, and became the fashion company’s first “Asian-Pacific Celebrity Ambassadress”. She is also known as LÇ Wen.
She placed first runner-up in a yearly singing contest hosted by the Hong Kong broadcaster TVB, and in 1996, she signed with Sony Music Entertainment.
Her self-titled debut album became the best-selling album of that year in Asia.
Lee’s two Mandarin albums helped her gain fame in the Mandopop scene in 1994. She released a third Mandarin album and an English-language record within the next year.
Her song Before I Fall in Love is on the soundtrack to the 1999 Hollywood movie Runaway Bride, starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere.
In the Mandarin version of Disney’s Mulan, Lee provided the voice of the title character, Fa Mulan, and performed Reflection, the movie’s theme song.
She also performed a song from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’s soundtrack at the 2001 Oscars.
Lee wed Canadian businessman Bruce Rockowitz in 2011, the former CEO of the Hong Kong-based supply chain behemoth Li & Fung. He has two daughters from a previous marriage.
About three years ago, there were rumours that they had broken up, but Lee never addressed them.
Coco Lee’s mental health
Lee’s sisters claimed the Chinese-American celebrity had been suffering from depression for a few years but had “deteriorated drastically” in recent months.
Lee had sought professional assistance and “fought” her mental-health issues to the best of her ability, but she was sadly unable to continue.
A hint of Lee’s struggles were laid bare in her last Instagram post dated December 2022. Lee wrote that it had been an “incredibly difficult year” for her.
“Life seemed unbearable at times but I adapted the attitude of a “female warrior” to face them head on fearlessly but always had the biggest smile and big fat laughters! Strength, courage, n bravery is within all of us so use them,” she shared.
