Best recognised for her performance of the Oscar-nominated Best Original Song ALove Before Time from the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon at the 73rd Academy Awards ceremony, Coco Lee is one of the most well-known Chinese singers. Born in Hong Kong and raised in San Francisco, she is the youngest in a family of three children. Although she was shy as a child, she always wanted to become a singer. Lee embarked on her career at the age of 18 after being awarded first runner-up in TVB's New Talent Singing Awards in 1993. Since then, she has released 15 Chinese and English albums, and her first English-language album Just No Other Way was released in 1999. Her Putonghua album is set to be released this year. Lee is a universal sex symbol and is ranked 15th on E! Entertainment's list of the world's 25 sexiest pop divas. Apart from concentrating on her singing career, Lee also tries to make a difference in the world. She recently teamed up with the National Geographic Channel to launch a new single for Earth Day called BYOB (Bring Your Own Bag) to encourage people to use fewer plastic bags. In 2004, she was YouthAIDS Ambassador for Asia and attended the 15th International Aids Conference to raise awareness about HIV infection. With regard to the Sichuan earthquake, Lee said that Sichuan had always held a special place in her heart because her mother was born there. To show her care and concern, the singer performed at the SCMP Homes for Hope gala dinner last night at the Island Shangri-La. She previously made a generous donation to the Red Cross for its relief work in the worst-hit areas immediately after the earthquake struck.
