#长文创作激励计划##头条创作挑战赛##记录我的2024##头等旺事##理想家生活#
July 5, 2024, marks the first anniversary of Coco Lee's death.
In the year since she left, people still think of clips related to her at certain moments.
For example, in the popular variety show "Singer 2024" not long ago, many people sighed that this competition made everyone really realize what it means to lose Coco Li in the music world-
The singer, who calls herself a "female warrior", once broke the fence with her own strength and showed the whole world the possibilities of Chinese singers.
When she first debuted, someone asked Li Min what her biggest dream was, and she replied without thinking: "I want to prove to everyone that Chinese are not only good at kung fu, but also good at music, and what is missing is only opportunity." ”
In the days that followed, Coco Li did it.
She not only won many "firsts" as a Chinese singer in the world, but also provided a new female paradigm for a generation in the decade around the turn of the millennium.
Appearing in the public eye, she is always confident, sexy and energetic, constantly infecting the people around her with her enthusiasm, becoming the idol of a generation like a benchmark, and also becoming the "idol of idols" of a generation.
It was precisely because Coco Li was so dazzling that when she decided to extinguish everything, the darkness came even more violently.
The news came out of nowhere without warning or rumors.
On July 5, 2023, Coco Li's second sister announced on social networks that due to depression, Coco Li committed suicide at home on July 2, and finally left this world after being rescued on the 3rd.
Because it was so sudden, it was difficult for the public to digest the bad news quickly.
After all, on the day of his death, Coco Li also sent a blessing voice to fans: "I will work hard, I hope you are healthy and happy during this time, I miss you very much." ”
Three days before her death, she also made an appointment with her friends who had known her for many years to have a dinner party half a month later; And her last Weibo content, stayed on May 20th, she promoted her new song "War Song", and in the text, she was still full of hope:
"Life has to face a lot of difficulties and pains, be brave to challenge, to pursue, you are a warrior."
Coco Li's last Weibo post
Coco Li has repeatedly described herself as a "female warrior" on different occasions. And most of the time, the image she presents in the public eye is indeed full of strength and hope, and it is difficult to defeat.
It wasn't until after her death that people learned that this female warrior who never admits defeat has long had a scarred life.
Judging from the timeline, in the year and a half before Coco Li's death, her body and life were subjected to great tests.
In 2022, Coco Li was diagnosed with breast cancer, which doctors described as a "time bomb" and urged her to have surgery as soon as possible. Later, because of over-rehearsal when participating in variety shows, Coco Li's hip joint was displaced, touching a nerve, and the old injury recurred, and surgery was necessary.
The disease of the leg was once the biggest pain in Coco Li's life.
Because of the excessive pull at birth, Coco Li had problems urinating in her left leg from a young age, until she was found by her mother when she was 2 years old and sent to the hospital for surgery. Unfortunately, the surgery was unsuccessful, and after she was discharged from the hospital, she would experience severe pain in her left leg every time she exercised excessively.
What is even more painful is the shadow left in her heart: for treatment, the doctor used a thick iron rod to pass through her left heel and then put a cast, after the operation, Coco Li lived alone in the children's ward, surrounded by the cries of more than 200 children tormented by the disease, and she always cried to sleep, missing her mother and sister.
Because of this experience, when she decided to undergo surgery again in 2023, she still called it the "biggest challenge and fear" of her life.
Photograph taken before Coco Lee's leg surgery
On the other hand, Coco Li and her husband's 10-year married life has also frequently hit the rocks.
After Coco Li's death, her mother once pointed out in an interview that Coco Li's husband had cheated on her husband many times in marriage, and Coco Li tried to submit a divorce application twice, but it could not be completed for various reasons.
Before her death, Coco Lee filed a third petition with the court, and after two weeks of waiting for a final signature, she chose to leave this world.
This year happens to be the 30th year of Coco Li's debut.
After her departure, the public fell into a deep sense of remembrance, and social media, both ordinary people and celebrities, recalled the stories related to Coco Li and the colorful colors she left behind.
For a long time, Coco Li was like a ball of light, always shining in the public eye, with a steady stream of energy.
It wasn't until after she left that people suddenly realized that the premise of the ball of light shining was that there was enough darkness around it.
From the day of her debut, Coco Li has been a "shuffler".
Around the turn of the millennium, she changed her hair color with different saturations, appeared on stage, in songs, and in advertisements, redefining trends and feminine images, creating her own golden age.
She brings the most confident look among girls, she says, "If someone is willing to portray my body in a sexy way, I will be grateful to them." ”
Li Xiang Old Zhao
In 1994, Coco Lee, who debuted with a singing competition, released her first album "Love Is Now", which sold 250,000 copies in the first week of its launch.
Her iconic European and American pop singing style brought a new experience to the Chinese music scene of the year.
At that time, most of the popular female singers in the music industry were "jade girls" wearing skirts, snow-white skin, and long hair.
Coco Lee took a different approach, wearing shorts and a crop top on the cover of the first album, bunching her hair up, and smiling confidently at the camera.
Coco Lee's "Love Is Now" album cover
The emergence of Coco Li has provided a new template for many girls in their formative years, and they have begun to realize that women can live another life.
Almost all the divas of the golden age of Taiwan, China, regarded Coco Li as their target, and Rainie Yang and Jolin Tsai called her the first idol in their lives.
Xiao Yaxuan even said that he decided to become a singer, a large part of which was because of Coco Li's existence: "She is so perfect that I can dream that I can live like her one day." ”
After Coco Li's death, Leehom Wang also recalled the 90s, when the two had just debuted, they often met together to go bowling:
"I still remember her being the center of the party, every boy had a crush on her, but they thought she was unattainable, she had a big smile, an infectious laugh and a great personality."
Li Xiang Old Zhao
In 1996, Coco Li signed with Sony Records, starting the route of an international singer, and she released two albums in succession - "Di Da Di Hint" and "SunnyDay Good Mood".
"Di Da Di Hints" sold 1.8 million copies in less than three months after its launch, swept the major awards of the year, and also topped the US Billboard charts.
李玟《Di Da Di暗示》封面
In 1998, as the only representative of the Chinese region in Asia, Li Min appeared at the opening ceremony of the World Cup in France, singing the single "Color", and also opened the era when she continued to become "first":
the first Chinese singer to sing at the Academy Awards; The first Chinese singer to enter the American music scene and release English-language records; He is also the first Chinese singer to be invited by the NBA Major League to sing the opening ceremony of the NBA.
Coco Lee, who sang at the Oscars
Coco Li and Yao Ming
Needless to say, Coco Li was a well-deserved diva in those years, looking dazzling and unapproachable. But those who come into contact with her will be infected by her big hugs, approachable smile, and unsparing encouragement.
Jolin Tsai once met Coco Li backstage at an awards ceremony, and Coco Li not only cheered for her, but also passed the "baton" to Jolin Tsai: "Now you want to win glory for us Chinese, and I am proud of you." ”
Jolin Tsai and Coco Lee
Xiao Yaxuan also talked about Coco Li's care for her, she once said to Xiao Yaxuan: "I treat you as my little sister, you can tell me if you have any problems, and I will protect you." ”
At Coco Li's farewell ceremony, Xiao Yaxuan cried and talked about this past: "I grew up in a single-parent family since I was a child, and I have always been the eldest sister, and no one has ever told me that you are my little sister." ”
"She was the only one who said that to me."
Xiao Yaxuan misses Coco Li
Before Coco Li passed away, he experienced three days of rescue.
During those three days, her mother, who was in her eighties, showed up at the hospital at 9 a.m. and left at 11 p.m., because she had studied Chinese medicine, and her mother would stick needles on the top of Coco Li's head every day, unwilling to give up.
In fact, after being taken to the hospital, the doctor declared Coco Li brain dead and unable to return to heaven, but Coco Li's sister begged the doctor to resuscitate him again:
"My mother lost her husband in her 40s, and my little sister was born at that time, please give my mother a chance not to let her lose her daughter again."
An old photo of Coco Li's mother and three daughters
Coco Li's parents both graduated from Peking University, the two met and fell in love on campus, got married and had children after graduation, and gave birth to three daughters successively.
Unfortunately, the youngest Coco never met her father, who died of a sudden illness a few days before she was born.
After the death of her husband, someone once advised Coco Li's mother that it was difficult to support her three children, so it was better to give her youngest daughter to someone else, although her mother did not pay attention to it, but the fear was always entrenched in Coco Li's heart and could not be dissipated for a long time:
"Since then, I was afraid of being abandoned, and I always wanted to spend more time and make others happy, so I always smiled and hoped that others would like me. Under the camera, I always hope to bring everyone a happy and happy image. ”
Coco Li's mother is very strict with her daughter, whether she is in school or later entering the entertainment industry, she has a deep control.
For example, when "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" invited Coco Li to sing the theme song, she initially refused, because the song was too classical and inconsistent with her past style, and at her mother's insistence, she changed her mind to sing this song.
When she won the first place in many Chinese after entering the industry, someone asked Coco Li how she felt, and she thought for a while and replied: "My mother must like it, just like when she was in school, she always tried to make sure you won the first place." ”
Because of strictness, Coco Li's mother was also rated as the "Four Star Mothers in the Entertainment Industry", and the remaining three are Wang Leehom, Shunzi and Fan Xiaoxuan's mother.
Xiao S interviewed Coco Li about the "four star mothers" in the entertainment industry
But for her mother's strictness, Coco Li has never rebelled and resisted, because she knows that her mother has suffered too much in order to raise herself and her two sisters.
In the years after my father's death, my mother and her three daughters first went to Hong Kong from Shenzhen, and when they first arrived in Hong Kong, the four of them did not even have a house to live in, so they could only sleep on the street.
A few years later, they moved to the United States for work reasons. With three young daughters in a foreign country, Coco Li's mother's life was not easy, and she had to work several jobs at the same time to support her family.
It is precisely because of this that for Coco Li, making her mother happy and happy is the goal that has always been implemented in her life.
She once cried and sighed at the concert "Mom is everything to me", and the day she bought her mother a dream house was called "the happiest day in her life".
Coco Lee with her mother
At the same time, her mother's pursuit of perfection also greatly affected Coco Li's dedication.
Coco Li once said that there is no word "tired" in his life dictionary, and once he works, he is like a "masochist".
Over the years, she used to rehearse for a single bar of chocolate or banana a day, and in the first three months of any show, she would abstain from all irritating foods — spicy, fried, sweet, iced.
When Coco released her first English album, the record company held a grand press conference for her, but unexpectedly, on the same day, she suffered from a severe cold and a high fever.
The staff asked Coco Li if she wanted to cancel the press conference, but she only needed five minutes to recover, and that day, she sang and danced on stage for 45 minutes, and after the end, she was so weak that she could only be carried back by the staff.
When participating in "I Am a Singer", she would make sure to sing each song 100 times before the competition, even though she had debuted for more than 20 years at that time, and she was a well-deserved senior in the industry.
Someone once asked Coco Li why she was so able to endure hardships, and she replied:
"To be number one, you have to break the restrictions and fences, but if I break it, it also means that other Asian singers can realize that they can also break it."
Even though she knew better than anyone how difficult the process was and how much pain it had to go through.
In 2016, after winning the title of "I Am a Singer", Coco Li gave an interview, and when asked what she was most afraid of, she replied: "I am afraid of being forgotten by the public. ”
When she was in her early 30s, Coco Li expressed her love for singing on many occasions, and she even imagined that even if she got married and had children in the future, she would continue to stand on the stage and sing.
But at the same time, she also said that she has an extremely traditional side, "I want to be a 100% wife and take care of my husband and family in a comprehensive way." ”
In 2011, Coco Li announced her marriage to her boyfriend Le Yumin, who had been in love for 8 years.
The wedding of the two cost nearly 150 million yuan, and it was held extremely luxuriously - well-known singer performances, 20,000 square meters of banquet space, food and flowers flown in from Paris.
Because the lineup of guests was too luxurious, some media even called this wedding a "flowing banquet of high society".
Coco Lee at the wedding
Coco Li's husband, Le Yumin, is 17 years older than her, and has been named one of the "30 Most Admired CEOs in the World" by Barron's for several consecutive times.
For a long time after marriage, Coco had a very good relationship with her husband and two stepdaughters. Every big and small festival, she always surprises her husband, and she also attends various activities of her stepdaughter at school on time, and constantly expresses her love for her daughter on social networks.
Coco Lee's sister called her "a good wife and stepmother" in an interview.
Coco Li with Le Yumin and their two daughters
In the process, Coco Li also tried to have her own children, and after a few years of marriage, she stopped working several times, tried to get pregnant, and even generously admitted in an interview that she was undergoing "artificial insemination":
In the past, Coco Li was very afraid of injections, and in order to get pregnant, she took injections for three weeks in a row to extract an egg, and Coco Li made nine attempts to do so, all of which ended in failure.
This has also become a big regret in her life, in an interview before her death, she still talked about wanting to be a mother: "I think I always have hope, but don't expect too much, be normal, there is, it doesn't matter if you don't." ”
Although according to Coco Li's sister, before her death, Coco Li had been plagued by depression for many years, but in the years after marriage, she was in front of the public, most of the time she was positive and sunny.
It wasn't until 2020 that Coco Li began to show vulnerability on social networks in a rare way.
First, in May, Coco Li released a photo of her hair cut short, with the text "Only I will always accompany myself in this life", and at the same time, some Hong Kong media broke the news that Coco Li's husband was cheating.
In July, she posted on Weibo again, lamenting that "it takes great courage and time to heal a broken heart", and news about Coco Li's marriage began to appear frequently.
Coco Li's Weibo
In the face of public speculation, Coco Li did not give a specific response publicly, but from the Weibo content she posted, it can be seen that she began to read some psychology-related books at home to try to cheer up.
When interacting with fans, Coco Lee also returned to her former positive state: "Everything will be fine, let's support each other and encourage each other." ”
In 2021, Coco Li will return to the public eye, she will participate in galas, be interviewed, and have starred in many variety shows including "The Sound of Life", "Run", "The Voice of China" and so on.
Coco Li participated in the period of "The Sound of Life".
In the process, Coco Li was diagnosed with breast cancer, and her old leg disease also recurred due to her busy schedule, and at the end of 2022, three days after recording the last episode of "The Voice of China", she underwent breast cancer surgery.
A few months later, she underwent what she called "the biggest challenge of her life" in leg surgery, and it was during this period that she decided to divorce her husband, whom she had known for 20 years.
A series of blows appeared in Coco Li's life, but she still didn't seem to intend to admit defeat.
A few days after the surgery, Coco posted a recovery video in which she was recovering and learning to walk again, saying:
"I'm a female warrior, I'm not afraid of anything, I'm ready for anything."
After leg surgery, Coco Lee posted a video
In 2023, the 30th anniversary of Coco Li's debut, in an interview with Lu Yanni, she talked about how she sang the theme song "Yourself" from the movie "Mulan" not long ago, and sang Coco Li suddenly cried:
"Growing up, I only knew that I lived for my fans, for my work, for my family, and I didn't think of anything else...... Never lived for myself. ”
"I don't want to be who I think I am anymore, I just want to be myself."
Looking at it now, this has also become a particularly painful part of Coco Li's story: when she decided to live hard for herself, her life came to an abrupt end.
It's been a whole year since Coco Li left, and because she didn't leave a word, no one knows what was going on in her mind when she decided to leave this world.
In her 48-year life, Coco Li has been like the sun, always full of vitality, constantly conveying happiness and love to the surroundings, constantly "fighting" for the cause she loves, and writing the popularity and style orientation of a generation.
It wasn't until she left that people realized that she had experienced so much mental pain and physical shackles in a long time.
Even so, she is still the female warrior who never admits defeat in people's hearts, and when people talk about her, they still think of the confidence, strength and hearty laughter she left behind.
Perhaps, just like the official Weibo of "The Sound of Life" mourned Coco Li: "When we felt the warmth, we didn't think that the sun would set. Singer Coco Li, go all the way. The world will remember you. ”
Time is flowing, but the light and temperature that belong to Coco Li will never dissipate.
(Excerpted from the WeChat public account)