Singer-songwriter Coco Lee from Hong Kong passed away on Wednesday after attempting suicide over the weekend, according to a Facebook post by her sisters.
Lee became the first Chinese American to perform at the Oscars when she performed the Best Original Song-nominated “A Love Before Time” from Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. She also sang the Mandarin version of the “Reflection” theme song from the 1998 Disney film Mulan.
Carol and Nancy Lee, Lee’s sisters, said that she had been in a coma ever since she attempted suicide over the weekend. The Facebook post said, “With great sadness, we are here to break the most devastating news: Coco had been dealing with depression for a few years, but over the last few months, things have gotten much worse for her.”
They went on to say that despite Coco’s efforts to combat her melancholy and professional assistance, “that demon inside of her took the better of her.” According to the sisters, she made an attempt at suicide on July 2 at home before being taken to the hospital, where she passed away after being kept in a coma.
Lee, who was born in Hong Kong in 1975, first relocated to the United States where she went to middle school and high school before beginning a successful pop singing career in Asia. She started out as a Mando-pop singer and throughout the course of her 30-year career, has recorded albums in Cantonese and English.
She was the first Chinese artist to be signed by Sony Music internationally, and she performed the title song and provided the voice of Fa Mulan in the Mandarin adaptation of Disney’s Mulan.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’s end-credit theme tune, “A Love Before Time,” which Lee sang in 2001, received an Oscar nomination for Best Music, Original tune. At the event, she sang the song, which was written by Jorge Callandelli, Tan Dun, and James Schamus.
In addition, Lee participated as an actor in three films: Lee Xin’s Master of Everything (2004), He Jiong’s Forever Young (2015), and Stanley Kwan’s No Tobacco (2002). He has often served as a judge on mainland Chinese talent competitions such as Chinese Idol and Come Sing With Me.
The former CEO of the supply chain firm Li & Fung, Canadian businessman Bruce Rockowitz, and Lee had two stepdaughters together in 2011.
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