HONG KONG – The funeral of Hong Kong-American singer Coco Lee was held in Hong Kong on Tuesday, with her family and friends in attendance. It was live-streamed on her sister Nancy’s YouTube channel.
The pop diva, who had battled depression, died at the age of 48 on July 5.
Her two elder sisters, Carol and Nancy, carried Lee’s portrait at the start of her funeral. They followed her casket, which was pushed by eight pallbearers.
They were Lee’s brother-in-law Billy Ho; famed lyricist Yao Chien; singer Jenny Tseng; Jonathan Serbin, the co-president of Asia at Warner Music; Lily Pang, Lee’s close friend of more than 30 years; television host Yang Yang; Grace Lee, the singer’s high-school classmate in San Francisco; and Colleen Yu Fung, Lee’s good friend.
Lee’s song A Love Before Time, the theme song of the martial arts movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), and snippets of her previous media interviews played in the background as the casket was pushed out of the funeral hall. Wailing could be heard in the hall.
The singer’s estranged husband, Canadian businessman Bruce Rockowitz, and her two stepdaughters Rachel and Sarah were not present at the funeral on Tuesday.
Tseng, whom Lee respected as a senior, consoled the sisters. Yao, the singer’s mentor, walked over and talked to Nancy before she broke down and wept on his shoulder.
Many fans lined the road when the hearse passed them, which reached the Cape Collinson Crematorium at about 11am on Tuesday.
Mr Rockowitz was seen arriving at the crematorium in a car about 10 minutes later.
The cremation serivce ended at about 12.15pm and Mr Rockowitz was heckled by Lee’s fans outside the crematorium. Asked for a comment by the media, he said: “I loved Coco, my whole life.”
Mr Rockowitz and his daughters Rachel and Sarah were present at the memorial service on Monday. They were seated in the second row instead of with the family.
Lee’s 86-year-old mother was not present, in accordance with the Chinese custom that the elderly should not send off a younger person.
The singer’s good friends such as Tseng, Yao and singer Elva Hsiao spoke at the service, while other celebrities such as singer-actor Andy Lau, actor Jackie Chan and singer-songwriters JJ Lin, Wang Leehom, A-mei and Jolin Tsai paid tribute to her via video.
Carol and Nancy were consoled by friends and relatives after the memorial service on Monday. They were heard shouting, “I don’t have a younger sister any more” and “He caused the death of my younger sister”, before the live stream was muted.
More than 1,000 queue numbers were issued to fans after the funeral hall was opened to the public after the memorial service.
