Coco Lee, a Hong Kong-born singer, songwriter and a renowned actress who had a highly successful career in Asia, has died by suicide, her siblings said on Wednesday. She was just 48 years old.
As per the statement posted on Facebook and Instagram by Lee’s elder sisters Carol and Nancy Lee, The star had been suffering from depression for several years, , with her condition deteriorating drastically over the last few months.
Despite the fact that the singer was seeking professional help, Coco Lee attempted suicide on July 2 and slipped into a coma. Ms Nancy’s statement read, “With great sadness, we are here to break the most devastating news: CoCo had been suffering from depression for a few years but her condition deteriorated drastically over the last few months.”
The statement added, “Although CoCo sought professional help and did her best to fight depression, sadly that demon inside of her took the better of her. On 2 July, she committed suicide at home and was sent to the hospital. Despite the best efforts of the hospital team to rescue and treat her from her coma, she finally passed away on 5 July 2023.”
2023 marks the 30th anniversary of CoCo’s singing career. In the past 29 years, she’s won countless international acclaims with top selling songs and has left audience with an astounding impression of her excellent live performances. CoCo is also known to have worked 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.
Here are five things to know about Coco Lee:
Debut
Coco Lee dropped out of college and in 1996, she signed a contract with Sony Music Entertainment.
That decision changed her fate and it ended up being one of the best-selling albums of 1996 in Asia.
Career
Coco Lee’s Mandarin album Di Da Di reportedly sold 1 million copies, that too in less than 3 months.
In 1999, her single Do You Want My Love charted on the US Billboard charts. Coco Lee also sang the Mandarin version of the movie’s theme song Reflection.
Fandom
Coco Lee gained a huge fan following in both Asia and the United States. Coco recorded 18 studio albums. She has also appeared in films including Lee Xin’s directorial Master of Everything and No Tobacco by Stanley Kwan.
Marriage
Coco Lee got married to Canadian Businessman Bruce Rockowitz in 2011. She didn’t have any children of her own, she had two step-daughters from her marriage with Bruce.
Tattoo
In an Instagram post on December 31, 2022, Coco Lee gave glimpses of her tattoo. Her caption read, “Love and Faith — my two favourite words that I carry strongly in my heart which I desperately needed to get through this incredibly difficult year.” It added, “Life seemed unbearable at times but I adapted the attitude of a ‘female warrior’ to face them head-on fearlessly.”