Coco Lee, a Chinese American singer and songwriter best known for performing an Oscar-nominated song in the hit film “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” died on Wednesday in a hospital in Hong Kong. She was 48.
The cause was suicide, according to a statement from her sisters, Carol and Nancy Lee. Ms. Lee was taken to the hospital on Sunday after she attempted suicide at her home, they said.
“Coco had been suffering from depression for a few years, but her condition deteriorated drastically over the last few months,” her sisters wrote. “Although Coco sought professional help and did her best to fight depression, sadly that demon inside of her took the better of her.”
Ms. Lee had built a successful career as a pop singer in Asia, but she was best known to American audiences for singing “A Love Before Time” in Ang Lee’s stylish action movie “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” released in 2000. The song, with music by Jorge Calandrelli and Tan Dun and lyrics by James Schamus, was nominated for an Oscar as best original song, and she performed it in front of a television audience of millions at the Academy Awards ceremony in March 2001.
“Combining the flavor and texture of Eastern music with the orchestral color and sensitive lyrics of Western culture, the magic of this stunningly beautiful film is truly realized in this evocative love ballad,” the actress Julia Stiles said as she introduced Ms. Lee’s performance.
Ms. Lee’s recording career began after she finished as the runner-up in a singing competition hosted by the television broadcaster TVB in Hong Kong in 1993. She had recently graduated from high school at the time and had entered the competition on a whim, she told The San Francisco Chronicle in 2000.
“I was timid as a kid,” she said. “I would hide in the bathroom and sing in the shower. I always predicted my older sister Nancy would be the singer. She’s beautiful, talented, and she’s got nice legs. I had no idea it would be me.”
Her success in the TVB contest led to the release of her debut album by a Taiwanese record label in 1994. “My goal in the singing business is not to stay in one place,” she told The South China Morning Post in 1997, saying she wanted to work in Asia and the U.S.
In 1999, Ms. Lee released her first full English-language album, “Just No Other Way,” which featured pop and R&B songs. One track, “Before I Fall in Love,” was included on the soundtrack for the 1999 Julia Roberts film “Runaway Bride.”
Ms. Lee’s career expanded beyond music. She voiced the lead character in the Mandarin version of the 1998 animated Disney film “Mulan,” set in imperial China, and sang its theme song, “Reflection.”
Ms. Lee, who was born on Jan. 17, 1975, in Hong Kong, moved to the United States and attended middle and high school in San Francisco, where she was crowned Miss Teen Chinatown in 1991. She briefly attended the University of California at Irvine, intending to study biology and become a doctor, but dropped out after her freshman year, she told The Chronicle.
In their statement, Ms. Lee’s sisters noted that this year marked the 30th anniversary of the launch of her singing career. Ms. Lee was “known to have worked tirelessly to open up a new world for Chinese singers in the international music scene,” they wrote, highlighting her “excellent live performances.”
In addition to her sisters, her survivors include her husband, Bruce Rockowitz, and two stepdaughters.
Ms. Lee’s last single, “Tragic,” was released in February. In a social media post at the end of 2022, she acknowledged having had an “incredibly difficult year” but encouraged her followers to spread positivity and “inspire people.”
If you are having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources.
Tiffany May contributed reporting.