Coco Lee

About the Coco Lee

Ferren “Coco” Leewas a Chinese-American singer, songwriter and actress. She is widely regarded as a significant figure and a Tianhouin C-pop. Her career marked a modernization of C-pop music and influenced many other artists of her era. Her career began in 1993 in Hong Kong, and she gained early fame in Taiwan through a series of successful albums in Mandarin Chinese, establishing herself as an icon in the Greater China area. During her life, she lived in Hong Kong, Taiwan, the USA, and mainland China. Her diverse cultural and educational experiences shaped her background and laid the foundation for her success in the Asian entertainment industry. She released 18 studio albums, two live albums, and five compilation albums.

Lee has been described as ‘Asian Mariah Carey’ and “enormously influential”. She was also noted for her Americanized dance routines. She voiced the lead character Fa Mulan in the Mandarin version of Mulan, a 1998 animated Disney film, and sang its theme song, “Reflection”. She was the first Chinese singer to break into the American market. Her album Just No Other Way, which was released in 1999, was the first English-language R&B album recorded by a Chinese singer. Her English single “Do You Want My Love” received international attention, appearing on the US Billboard Hot Dance Breakouts chart at No. 4 and entering the top 50 of the US Billboard Dance Club Play chart as well as the Australian Singles Chart. Lee performed the song “A Love Before Time” from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon at the 73rd Academy Awards, becoming the first, and so far only, Chinese performer to perform at the Academy Awards. She was also the first Chinese-American singer to sing at an NBA game, the first Asian to hold a concert at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the first non-mainland Chinese singer to win the Chinese reality show I Am A Singer, and the first Chinese brand ambassador for Chanel. She spent most of her life in Hong Kong and died there at the age of 48.