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CoCo Lee (李玟)
Background information
Birth name	Ferren Lee (李美林)
Born	January 17, 1976
Origin	Hong Kong
Genre(s)	Pop, Cantopop, Mandarin Pop, Urban contemporary, Adult Contemporary, Dance-pop
Years active	1993–present
Label(s)	Fancy Pie Records (1993—1995); Sony Music (1996—present);
Website	CoCo Lee Official site

CoCo Lee is the stage name of Ferren Lee-Kelly (李美林 Pinyin: Lǐ Měilín; also 李玟 Lǐ Mín) (born January 17, 1976). She is a C-pop, Urban contemporary and Dance-pop star who has also recorded albums in English, contributed to several movies and represented internationally-known products to the Asian market. Her voice is being compared to the likes of Mariah Carey and Regine Velasquez especially on her album "Just no other Way".

CoCo Lee was born in Hong Kong with ancestry from Harbin, China. Her father died when she was young, and CoCo moved at age 10 with her mother, step-father and sister to California. She went through school while experimenting with her singing voice, and followed her older sisters in entering several local singing contests. CoCo is close to her mother, who has at times managed her career. CoCo did not come from a wealthy background, which has meant that she has been careful with the wealth earned through her singing career, and has expressed appreciation for the wealth she now has.^{[citation needed]}

After Lee's high school graduation in 1993, she took a holiday in Hong Kong, probably seeing her two sisters' (Carol Lee and Nancy Lee) participation of Miss Hong Kong Pageant, and while there she came runner-up in the 12th Annual New Talent Singing Awards. The following day, she was approached by local record label Fancy Pie Records.

CoCo Lee was represented by Fancy Pie Records from 1994 to 1995, recording four albums with them, before being picked up in 1996 by Sony, who has continued to represent her ever since.^{[citation needed]}

CoCo sang the theme song "A Love Before Time" for the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. She received worldwide exposure when she performed the song live at the 2001 Academy Awards ceremony. Critics commented that she hit the high C6s right on, and delivered solid vocals. Her singing on the stage was skilled and she did not over-sing the song, bringing to Western attention the beauty of Eastern music and culture. Her exquisite red dress, which she wore to the Academy Awards Ceremony for the movie nomination, and her graceful stage presence also gained her much applause in the West.^{[citation needed]}

In 2002, CoCo was the featured performer at a Houston Rockets NBA game. She became the first Chinese singer to ever perform the US National Anthem at a major global sporting event.

In addition to her mega-star status in the Mandarin and Cantopop music market, Lee's English-language performance has also received recognition. Her song Before I Fall In Love was included in the soundtrack of the movie Runaway Bride.

She was invited by Andrew Lloyd Webber to perform Phantom of the Opera in China.

Also, Walt Disney Pictures hired her to sing the title song and be the voice of the heroine Fa Mulan in the Mandarin Chinese version of Mulan. She recorded the song "Reflections", which she also sang at the 2005 opening of the Hong Kong Disneyland A "Reflections" Chinese music video was also filmed. While the Christina Aguilera version of the English version is more widely known, CoCo did also sing the English version, including one which she sang together with Christina.

CoCo also does part-time acting. This all-rounded entertainer co-starred in the Chinese movie comedy Master of Everything (aka Bamboo Shoot) with John Lone, which won the Best Foreign Film award at the 2005 Beverly Hills Film Festival. In character in this movie she sang one of her own hit songs, "Di-Da-Di", which was a cover of Maria Montell's "And So The Story Goes".

In the world of fashion and commerce, CoCo was an Omega Watches Global Ambassador in 2004, and fashion house Chanel named CoCo its first "Asian-Pacific Celebrity Ambassadress". This brought Ferren's story full circle somewhat, as she got her nickname CoCo from being an admirer of the firm's products. CoCo, as the YouthAIDS ambassador had been to Bangkok, Thailand for the global AIDS conference in 2004. She attended the conference as the representative of the Asian artists to meet various youth groups discussing what she can do to educate them about AIDS.

In June 2005 CoCo's engagement to millionaire Canadian businessman Bruce Rockowitz was made public, apparently having taken place some months earlier. Despite Rockowitz being 15 years her senior, CoCo's mother approved the marriage.

Coco Lee, September 16, 2006.

Coco Lee (third from left) performs "Hip Hop Tonight" at a street concert in Taipei, Taiwan, September 16, 2006.

As of 2006, CoCo Lee has yet to break the U.S. Market with a big smash hit single. Although both her English albums have sold modestly and often receive rave reviews by customers, the promotional support, regular airplay and recurrent airplay by radio programmers is still lacking. This is the main reason she has not been as successful with her English language output. Her moderate hit single, "Do You Want My Love", especially the Hex Hector remix, remains popular at discotheques and various internet radio stations. Her most recent English single aimed at the North American market is titled "No Doubt," the lead single from the album "Exposed." Once again because of lax programming on radio station playlists, this single was relatively ignored by radio. The singles have become massive chart and video television hits in Hong Kong and Taiwan among other places. The second single from "Exposed" is the song "Cool" whose music video is increasingly run on Hong Kong and Taiwanese MTV. Coco's follow up album to her C-Pop hit album "Promise", titled "Just Want You," features the hit single "Hip-Hop Tonight" which follows in the same vein as "No Doubt." The album "Just Want You" was released on September 22, 2006. The second single, "The Ninth Night" is expected to be released January 2007.

• [1994.06.xx] Love From Now On
• [1994.12.xx] Promise Me
• [1995.06.xx] Brave Enough To Love
• [1995.09.xx] Woman In Love
• [1996.06.xx] CoCo (Past Love)
• [1996.11.xx] CoCo's Party
• [1997.06.xx] Everytime I Think of You
• [1997.12.xx] CoCo Cantonese album
• [1998.01.xx] DiDaDi (HMV Music Chart: #1)
• [1998.06.25] Sunny Day
• [1999.05.25] Today Until Forever
• [1999.10.27] Just No Other Way English debut album (HMV Music Chart: #1)
• [2000.08.24] True Lover, You and Me
• [2001.10.12] Promise
• [2002.06.18] D.IS.CoCo
• [2005.03.25] Exposed English second album (HMV Music Chart: #1)
• [2006.09.22] Just Want You (HMV Music Chart: #1)

• "Di Da Di"
• "Do You Want My Love" Hot Dance Music/Club Play: #49
• "Before I Fall In Love"
• "Can't Get Over" feat. Kelly Price
• "Wherever You Go"
• "A Love Before Time"
• "Reflection"
• "No Doubt" feat. Blaaze
• "Cool"
• "love at 85 degree celcius"
• "All Around The World"
• "So Good"
• "Hip-Hop Tonight"
• "Brave Enough To Love"
• "Another Sad Love Song" (Dance Version)
• "The Ninth Night"

• The Best of My Love - 2001-01-01

• Official site
• CoCoLee.com CoCo Lee's online fanclub
• CoCoFans.com CoCo Lee's unofficial online fanclub
• Coco Lee's Lyrics English-language lyric site
• Miss Teen Chinatown 1991 profile at San Francisco Chinatown web site
• CoCo Lee at the Internet Movie Database
• AskMen.com - CoCo Lee