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In 2001, [[Asia Weekly Magazine]] named Coco as one of the most powerful people in Asia on their Power 50 list.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_4c13ebfd0100813j.html
In 2001, [[Asia Weekly Magazine]] named Coco as one of the most powerful people in Asia on their Power 50 list.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_4c13ebfd0100813j.html
|title=Chinese Pop Music History 20 Years Special - CoCo Lee |accessdate= 2007-12-12 |date=[[December 12]], [[2007]]}}</ref>
|title=Chinese Pop Music History 20 Years Special - CoCo Lee |accessdate= 2007-12-12 |date=[[December 12]], [[2007]]}}</ref>



==Biography==
==Biography==
Born in [[Hong Kong]] with ancestry from [[Harbin]], [[China]], Coco is the youngest of three children. She has two elder sisters, Nancy, who was her manager before and Carol. Her father died a few months before she was born, and CoCo moved at age of ten with her mother and sisters to [[California]]. She went through school while experimenting with her singing voice, and followed her elder sisters in entering several local singing contests. Coco Lee attended [[Raoul Wallenberg Traditional High School]] in [[San Francisco]]. Coco later had a brief enrollment at the [[University of California]] at [[Irvine]]. CoCo is close to her mother, who in the beginning managed her career.
Born in [[Hong Kong]] with ancestry from [[Harbin]], [[China]], Coco is the youngest of three children. She has two elder sisters, Nancy, who was her manager before, and Carol. Her father died a few months before she was born, and Coco moved at the age of ten with her mother and sisters to [[San Francisco]], [[California]]. She went through school while experimenting with her singing voice, and followed her elder sisters in entering several local singing contests. She attended [[Raoul Wallenberg Traditional High School]] in [[San Francisco]]. Coco later had a brief enrollment at the [[University of California]] at [[Irvine]]. CoCo is close to her mother, who in the beginning managed her career.

⚫
After Lee's high school graduation in [[1993]], she took a vacation in Hong Kong, to see her two sisters' (Carol Lee and Nancy Lee) participation in the [[Miss Hong Kong Pageant]], and while there, she came first runner-up in the 12th Annual [[New Talent Singing Awards]]. The following day, she was approached by the record label, [[Capital]] [[Artists]].


⚫
After Lee's high school graduation in [[1993]], she took a holiday in Hong Kong, to see her two sisters' (Carol Lee and Nancy Lee) participation in the [[Miss Hong Kong Pageant]], and while there, she came first runner-up in the 12th Annual [[New Talent Singing Awards]]. The following day, she was approached by the record label, [[Capital]] [[Artists]].


==Record Companies==
==Record Companies==

Revision as of 09:14, 23 February 2008

Template:Infobox Chinese actor and singer Ferren Lee-Kelly (born January 17 1976),[1] popularly known as CoCo Lee, is a Chinese American, C-pop singer, urban contemporary and dance-pop star, songwriter, record producer, and actress.[1]She has released a total of seventeen albums by 2006, and two of which were recorded in English. Her single, "Do You Want My Love" entered the music charts in America and the entire album, "Just No Other Way" gave Coco a break in the English market.[2]

Coco first gained recognition when she won first runner-up in the 1993 New Talent Singing Awards with her own rendition of "Run to You" by Whitney Houston. Capital Artists noticed that her voice stood out and ask Coco to sign a contract with their label.[2]

She is the first Chinese to perform in the Oscar's stage, singing the Academy Award nominee for Best Original Song A Love Before Time from the movie Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon in the 73rd Academy Awards..[3] Coco also provided the voice of Mulan in the Mandarin version of Disney's animated feature of the same name.[3]

Coco's music has been influenced by genres ranging from pop, dance-pop, urban pop, Cantopop, R'n'B, adult contemporary and soul. While her releases have often received mixed critical reception, she is renowned for her East-meets-West music and powerful vocals.She has also been nicknamed the "Asia's Pop Diva" by the media and due to her worldwide success, critics called Coco the "Best-selling Female Artist" of the continent.

In 2001, Asia Weekly Magazine named Coco as one of the most powerful people in Asia on their Power 50 list.[4]


Biography

Born in Hong Kong with ancestry from Harbin, China, Coco is the youngest of three children. She has two elder sisters, Nancy, who was her manager before, and Carol. Her father died a few months before she was born, and Coco moved at the age of ten with her mother and sisters to San Francisco, California. She went through school while experimenting with her singing voice, and followed her elder sisters in entering several local singing contests. She attended Raoul Wallenberg Traditional High School in San Francisco. Coco later had a brief enrollment at the University of California at Irvine. CoCo is close to her mother, who in the beginning managed her career.

After Lee's high school graduation in 1993, she took a vacation in Hong Kong, to see her two sisters' (Carol Lee and Nancy Lee) participation in the Miss Hong Kong Pageant, and while there, she came first runner-up in the 12th Annual New Talent Singing Awards. The following day, she was approached by the record label, Capital Artists.


Record Companies

After winning in the 1993 New Talent Singing Awards, Coco was approached by Capital Artists and asked her to sign a contract with them. She made her debut on June 15, 1993, with her compilation album, "火熱動感 LaLaLa" . A year later, she worked with Fancy Pie Records. In 1995, Coco signed a contract with Sony Music Entertainment. Rumors came out that her mother paid over $100,000 to end Coco's contract with Fancy Pie Records and transfer to Sony. However, it has also been rumored that Sony hired top lawyers to ensure that Coco's move to Sony was seemless. In 1998, 550 Music represented Coco with her stateside debut album, Just No Other Way and in 2005, with her second English album, Exposed. Since then, Sony Music Entertainment continue in handling her career.[5]

Worldwide Recognition

CoCo sang the 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.

In 2002, CoCo was the featred 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 status in the Mandarin music market, Lee's English-language performance has also received recognition. Her love 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 Lea Salonga version of the English version is more widely known, CoCo did also sing the English version, including one which she sang together with Lea.

The success of her concert in Taiwan on 1998, second to Michael Jackson in terms of audience, with more than 30,000 people who watched, caught the attention of Sony Music United States and Tommy Mottola.

File:CoCo Lee Ads in HK Wanchai.jpg
Marketing campaign in Hong Kong

CoCo has been getting into acting part-time. She 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. While in character within the movie, she sings one of her own 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 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 early 2005, CoCo visited countries all over Asia to promote her latest album "Exposed". During her visit in the Philippines, she guested in SOP and performed the songs Do You Want My Love and I Will Survive with Asia's Songbird, Regine Velasquez. It was remembered that CoCo humbly introduced Velasquez as the "Diva of all Divas" during the MTV Asia Awards back in 2003. CoCo together with pop singer Shaggy hosted the show while Velasquez won the trophy for the second time in a row as the Philippine's favorite artist.

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 18 years her senior, CoCo's mother approved the marriage.

Before her relationship with Bruce Rockowitz, Coco has been rumored with the Taiwanese singer Wang Leehom.

From then on, CoCo has been called "beautiful" and "gorgeous" [4]

Current career

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 2007, CoCo Lee has yet to break the U.S. market with a big smash hit single. Although both her English albums have sold modestly, 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", 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 ignored by radio. The singles have become chart and video television hits in Hong Kong and Taiwan among other places. The second single from "Exposed" is the song "So Good" 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" with Vanness Wu, which follows in the same vein as "No Doubt." The album "Just Want You" was released on September 22, 2006. The second single from the album was "The Ninth Night", followed by the third single "Love You At 85°C" and the final single, "Dangerous Lover".

Coco Lee returned to San Francisco bay area for a live concert at the Shoreline Amphitheatre on September 22, 2007 with special guest Alex To. It will be her first live performance in her hometown in several years.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Compilations

References

  1. ^ "Coco Lee- Biography, Gallery, Forum and Videos". February 01, 2002. Retrieved 2008-02-01. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ "Singer of the Week". August 07, 2001. Retrieved 2008-02-01. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ "CoCo Lee - A Love Before Time(73th Oscar)". Retrieved 2008-02-01. {{cite web}}: Text "date 2004" ignored (help)
  4. ^ "Chinese Pop Music History 20 Years Special - CoCo Lee". December 12, 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-12. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ "Coco Lee's Profile". February 14, 2000. Retrieved 2007-01-09. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
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