Coco Lee, a Hong Kong-born singer and songwriter who had a highly successful career in Asia, has died after a suicide attempt that left her in a coma, her siblings have said. She was 48.
Lee was famous for voicing the female warrior Mulan in the Mandarin-language version of the Disney movie of the same name, and performing the Oscar-nominated song A Love Before Time from the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Her popularity in Asia has seen some Chinese fans consider her an Asian version of Mariah Carey due to her powerful voice.
Her late 90s hit Do You Want My Love, and the song Before I Fall In Love — from the romantic comedy Runaway Bride starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere — also made a splash in Australia and the US.
The star had depression for several years, Lee's elder sisters Carol and Nancy Lee said in a statement posted on Facebook and Instagram, with her condition deteriorating drastically over the last few months.
"Although CoCo sought professional help and did her best to fight depression, sadly that demon inside of her took the better of her," the statement said.
"On 2 July, she committed suicide at home and was sent to the hospital. Despite the best efforts of the hospital team to rescue and treat her from her coma, she finally passed away on 5 July, 2023."
Lee died in Queen Mary Hospital in Hong Kong, where she had been living.
