The funeral of Hong Kong-American singer Coco Lee took place in Hong Kong on Tuesday (Aug 1), with her family and friends in attendance. The service was live-streamed on her sister Nancy’s YouTube channel.
The renowned pop singer, who had battled depression, passed away at the age of 48 on July 5.
At the beginning of the funeral, Lee’s two elder sisters, Carol and Nancy, carried her portrait. They followed her casket, which was pushed by eight pallbearers.
The pallbearers included Lee’s brother-in-law Billy Ho, famed lyricist Yao Chien, singer Jenny Tseng, Jonathan Serbin (co-president of Asia at Warner Music), Lily Pang (Lee’s close friend for over 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).
As the casket was pushed out of the funeral hall, Lee’s song “A Love Before Time”, the theme song of the martial arts movie “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” (2000), played in the background along with snippets of her previous media interviews. Wailing could be heard throughout the hall.
Lee’s estranged husband, Canadian businessman Bruce Rockowitz, and her two stepdaughters Rachel and Sarah were absent from the funeral.
Tseng, whom Lee respected as a senior in the industry, offered her condolences to the sisters. Yao, Lee’s mentor, approached Nancy and comforted her before she broke down and wept on his shoulder.
A photo of the hearse carrying Lee’s casket. Photo: ReutersMany fans gathered along the road as the hearse passed by, leading to the Cape Collinson Crematorium at approximately 11am on Tuesday.
Rockowitz arrived at the crematorium in a car about 10 minutes later.
The cremation service concluded around 12.15pm and Rockowitz faced backlash from Lee’s fans outside the crematorium. When asked for a comment by the media, he simply said: “I loved Coco, my whole life.”
Rockowitz and his daughters Rachel and Sarah were present at the memorial service on Monday, but they were seated separately in the second row.
Lee’s 86-year-old mother did not attend the funeral as per Chinese custom, where the elderly are not expected to bid farewell to the younger ones.
At the memorial service, Lee’s close friends such as Tseng, Yao, and singer Elva Hsiao delivered speeches, while celebrities like 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 messages.
After the memorial service, Carol and Nancy were comforted by friends and relatives. Their anguished cries of “I don’t have a younger sister anymore” and “He caused the death of my younger sister” were muted during the live stream.
After the memorial service, the funeral hall was opened to the public, and over 1,000 queue numbers were issued to fans.
– The Straits Times/Asia News Network
