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Sad news came as this was revealed Coco Lee has passed away. Successful singer-songwriter who voiced the titular heroine in the Mandarin dub of the Disney animated film MulanLee eventually lost her battle with depression on July 5th. According to her sister Nancy C. Lynn Lee’s Facebook post, Lee was hospitalized after a suicide attempt on July 2. While medical professionals spent the next three days trying to save her life, Lee was pronounced dead on Wednesday. She was 48 years old.
“With great sadness, we hereby report the most devastating news: CoCo had been suffering from depression for a few years, but her condition has worsened significantly over the past few months,” read a statement written in part by the Lee sisters. “Although CoCo sought professional help and did her best to fight depression, unfortunately that demon inside her took over.”
The statement also notes that this year marks the 30th anniversary of Lee’s singing career, having met with great success thanks to her international acclaim and her “excellent live performances”. The Li family also credits her for working tirelessly to “open up a new world for Chinese singers in the international music scene, and has done her best to shine for the Chinese”, which reflects how proud they are of the achievement.
“As a CoCo family, we are so grateful and honored to have such a wonderful and special Sister,” the statement continues. “We thank God for giving us such a sweet angel. We now know that she has gone to a happier place and is no longer depressed; we trust that God has looked out for her welfare! Now, our greatest responsibility is to take good care of our elderly mother. May he pray Everyone is for this poor old lady and gives us time and privacy in recovery.”
The family adds, “Finally, we would like to thank the medical staff once again for their dedication to care throughout the entire process. At the same time, we hope everyone not only misses CoCo, but also shares her radiant smile, treating people with sincerity, passing kindness and love to everyone around us, and keep going.” In CoCo’s desire to let everyone around us feel her love and happiness.Although CoCo has been in the world for not long, her rays of light will last forever!”
Coco Lee presented at the 2001 Academy Awards
Born in Hong Kong in 1975, Lee moved to San Francisco with her family when she was nine years old. Years later, Lee found success with pop music in Hong Kong, and returned to fame in Asia. Having dominated the Mandarin and Cantonese pop charts, Lee has lent her talents to American productions, contributing to soundtracks for various film releases. This includes performance Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon The song “Love Before Time”. In 2001, Lee performed the song live at the Academy Awards.
Lee was also notably hired by Disney to sing the theme song “Reflection” for the animated film Mulan. The House of Mouse was so impressed with her work that she was also asked to voice Mulan in the Mandarin dub of the film.
Our thoughts are with Lee’s family at this time. Rest in peace, Coco Lee.
