Coco Lee-Princess of Asian Pop

Bio

CoCo Lee, née Ferren Lee, was born in Hong Kong on the 17th of January 1975. Although she was born in Hong Kong, CoCo was raised in San Francisco where she grew up with her mother, stepfather and two older sisters (her father passed away when she was young). She shared her singing talent with her two older sisters and her mother, who was a doctor. Although the mother of the Lee sisters wanted her daughters to pursue more practical careers, the youngest CoCo knew at a young age that she would become a singer.
During her free time, CoCo would practice her singing abilities by singing material from her favorite pop artists, such as Madonna, Whitney Houston, George Michael and Debbie Gibson.

Despite their mother's former disapproval, the elder Lee sisters put their musical talent to the test by entering local singing competitions, which proved to be successful. Being the youngest sibling, Lee followed in her sisters' footsteps and entered singing competitions as well, since she looked up to them. Her winning performances at the local singing contests are what eventually paved the way to her musical career.

Her success at singing competitions was not the only thing that fueled her desire to pursue a singing career: She performed for her class in junior high and received a standing ovation, and sang at a local karaoke place at Fisherman's Wharf. Her karaoke singing was what really proved to Lee how well she can sing, after her friend started playing the tape of Lee's karaoke performances in the restaurant she worked at and people wanted to buy the tape.

After CoCo graduated from high school, she went on a vacation to Hong Kong and enterred an annual singing contest, which is where most of the country's stars got their breaks in the industry. CoCo entered the contest just for fun but ended up winning second place with her version of "Run To You" by Whitney Houston.

The next day, a local record company approached CoCo, asking her to sign with their label. Not only was she the only performer to sing in English at the competition, but the record company noticed that her voice stood out compared to the rest of the Asian contestants.

In 1995, CoCo released her album entitled Brave Enough To Love English as well as Woman In Love, an album in Mandarin. She was also named one of Taiwan's best artists. One year later, CoCo signed a contract with Sony Music Taiwan. Her CoCo Lee (Former Day's Love) Mandarin album was also released in 1996, as was her English album CoCo's Party. The Channel (V) Chinese Top 20 and the Golden Dragon Chart Awards in Taiwan both awarded CoCo's hit single "Former Love".

In 1997, CoCo released her third Mandarin album entitled Each Time I Think Of You as well as a Cantonese album called Be Careful Next Time. She was again awarded Best Female Artist by the Best 10 Artists Awards.

1998 was an even bigger year for her. Her Mandarin albums DiDaDi and SunnyDay: Feeling Good were released. It was also the year CoCo's DiDaDi won the MTV Asia Music Award for Best Album and Best Music Video.

In August of the same year, she performed in Taiwan to a concert audience of more than 30,000 fans, the second largest concert audience in Taiwan (a feat that only Michael Jackson has claimed in the past). CoCo was the voice behind Mulan, the title role of the Mandarin version of Disney animated feature, co-starring Jackie Chan. She also sang the Mandarin theme song of the film.

After having enjoyed huge success in Asia, CoCo's newest album release is the English album Just No Other Way, under the record label 550 Music. Released this year, the album has already spawned hits such as "Do You Want My Love" and "Can't Get Over You" and features R&B sensation Kelly Price. With the combination of CoCo's unique voice and R&B tinged music, it's clear that her Asian and American fans will not be getting over the former Miss Chinese America any time soon.

*credits to cocolee.com*


Coco lee at The OScar Award Night

Posted in: Chinese