Coco Lee

Ferren Lee was born on 17 January 1975 in Hong Kong 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, ==Career==

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. She made her debut on compilation albums such as ''Red Hot Hits '93 Autumn Edition'' (zh). Her English-language cover album ' and her third Mandarin album, ', came out the following year. the only one she ever recorded in that language. In 1998, her Mandarin album '''' came out, selling one million copies in less than three months. on "Weekend Commander/周末霸王" at Channel V, 1998. 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 ''. Later that year, under 550 Music, she released her first English album of original songs, titled Just No Other Way, which included the hit "Do You Want My Love". 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. Lee recorded the charity singles "We Meet the Future" and "Hand in Hand" for SARS with other artists, including Wang Leehom, Stefanie Sun, Elva Hsiao, and Jolin Tsai. In 2001, Lee sang the song "A Love Before Time" for the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which she performed at the Oscars. 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. 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 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. It was banned in mainland China for "sexy" lyrics in a few songs, such as "Touch" and "So Good". Lee's next Mandarin album, '''', 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, '', 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. Her next album, '', was released on 31 May 2013 by Universal Music. 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. In September 2022, Lee was a coach during season 7 of the show Sing! China. She had a dispute with the management, questioning the fairness of the judges during the competition. In an audio recording that was leaked only 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 wrote a Weibo post, to which she complied so that Feige could showcase his talent again. In 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. ==Personal life==

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. She had no biological children but had two stepdaughters from her husband's previous marriage. Reports stated the couple had separated before Lee died and were due to sign divorce papers in July 2023. Health issues Lee was born with an abnormality in her left leg. 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. 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. ==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. 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 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. ==Awards and nominations==

Studio albums Live albums Compilations Remix albums EPs Maxi-singles Digital singles Compilation appearances ==Videography==