Coco Lee, Singer and First Chanel Chinese Ambassador, Dies at 48

Tianwei Zhang and Denni Hu
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LONDON — Chinese American singer Coco Lee, who was best known for singing the “Mulan” theme song “Reflection” and became the first Chinese American to perform at the Oscars, died on Wednesday at the age of 48 after a failed attempt to rescue her from a depression-related suicide, her sisters Carol and Nancy Lee confirmed on Weibo.

“After a long struggle with depression, Coco’s condition took a sharp turn for the worse recently and she attempted suicide at home on July 2. After being sent to the hospital in a coma, the hospital team worked hard to rescue and treat her, but she passed away on July 5,” they wrote on Weibo.

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“The year 2023 would have been the 30th anniversary of Coco’s debut. In the past 29 years, she has not only brought us endless joy and surprise with her powerful songs and dances but also worked hard to create a new world for Chinese singers in the international singing world.…Now, our biggest responsibility is to take good care of our aging mother, and we hope that everyone will pray for her and give us the space and time to heal our pain,” they added.

Born in 1975 in Hong Kong, Lee moved to San Francisco at the age of nine with her mother and sisters. Her father passed away before she was born. She later returned to Hong Kong and launched her career in music.

In 1998, she was hired to sing the song “Reflection” for the Disney animated adaptation of the Chinese folktale Mulan, and voiced for the character of Mulan for the Chinese version of the movie. The success of the movie and the song helped her reach global fame.

In 2001, Lee became the first Chanel brand ambassador of Chinese descent for the Asia region. At the time, however, her appointment caused some backlash among loyal Chanel fans in Hong Kong for being too sexy and not elegant enough.

Nevertheless, she attended the brand’s fall 2001 fashion show in Paris and wore a colorful sequin dress from Chanel for the red carpet of the 73rd Academy Awards, where she performed the song “A Love Before Time” from Ang Lee’s movie “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.”

In recent years, Lee remained active in mainland China and served as a judge on various singing competitions and reality shows.

Lee was married to Bruce Rockowitz, a former chief executive officer of the Hong Kong-based supply chain giant Li & Fung. She had two stepdaughters from Rockowitz’s previous marriage.

The two married in 2011 in a lavish wedding that was covered extensively in the Asian press and featured performances by Bruno Mars and the Black Eyed Peas.

Sensen Lii, founder of the Shanghai-based cult fashion label Windowsen, said Lee will be the inspiration for one of his upcoming ready-to-wear collections.

“I wanted to create a collection that’s inspired by an early 2000s Asian Divas. Style-wise, Coco Lee was the most obvious choice. I approached her manager last year to talk about a potential collaboration, but they said she wanted to take some time off. Now that she is gone, I will probably still do the collection in her honor,” he said.

If you or anyone you know is contemplating suicide, a list of suicide hotlines around the globe can be found at www.suicidestop.com. In addition, dialing, texting or chatting 988 in the U.S. will route people to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The Lifeline’s phone number 800-273-8255 is also available to people experiencing emotional distress or suicidal crisis.

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