Staff Writer
Singer and composer Coco Lee, who was born in Hong Kong and had a very successful career in Asia, committed suicide, according to her family. She was 48 years old.
The actress had been dealing with depression for a number of years, according to Lee’s older sisters Carol and Nancy Lee, whose statement was shared on Facebook and Instagram. However, during the past few months, her condition has severely worsened.
The statement said that despite CoCo’s efforts to combat her melancholy and professional assistance, “that demon inside of her took the better of her.”
According to her sister, Lee attempted suicide at home over the weekend and was taken to the hospital right afterwards. She allegedly passed away on Wednesday while she was in a coma.
Lee had a very successful career as a pop singer in Asia in the 1990s and 2000s. Although she was born in Hong Kong, Lee eventually emigrated to the United States where she went to middle and high school.
Over the course of her nearly 30-year career, Lee—who started out as a Mandopop singer—branched out to make albums in Cantonese and English.
She sang the Mandarin version of Reflection, the movie’s theme song, and provided the voice of Fa Mulan in the Mandarin adaptation of Disney’s Mulan.
In 2011, Bruce Rockowitz, a Canadian entrepreneur and ex-CEO of the Hong Kong supply chain firm Li & Fung, wed Lee. Although she shared a marriage with Rockowitz and had two stepdaughters, Lee was childless.
“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,” her sisters wrote in their post.
“We are happy with her!”
