Denise Ho Wan-see (born 10 May 1977) is a Hong Kong and Canadian singer and actress. In 2014, Ho was blacklisted by the Chinese government following her support for pro-democracy movements in Hong Kong. As of 2024, her passport has been confiscated by the government and there have been no updates since then as to whether she is permitted to leave Hong Kong.
Early life and education Ho was born in Hong Kong. Both of her parents were teachers. She began her primary school education at the Diocesan Girls' Junior School. In 1988, she moved with her parents to Montreal, Canada. Ho first attended Collège Jean de la Mennais, an elementary and middle school in La Prairie, on the South Shore of Montreal, then attended Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf, a Catholic college preparatory secondary school and private college. There, she received a Quebec Diploma of College Studies in Arts and Communications.
In 1996, she returned to Hong Kong to take part in the New Talent Singing Awards (NTSA). Afterwards, she began her studies at Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) in graphic design. She was enrolled for only one semester before returning to Hong Kong to kickstart her career.
Career
1996–1999: Career begins At age 19, Ho enrolled in the 1996 New Talent Singing Awards and to her stated surprise, won the competition.
This gave her the opportunity to meet Anita Mui, a renowned singer of Cantopop—"queen of Hong Kong movies and…renowned in the… world of Cantonese pop music"—of whom she had been a fan since childhood, and who would become her mentor following her win. This launched her career, and at this time she took on the stage name, "HoCC"; this gave her the opportunity to record an album, and gave her a recording contract with Capital Artists. In the intervening period between the contents win and her first album, Ho toured as a background vocalist with Mui, and hosted various television programs produced by TVB.
2000–2004: Breakthrough Ho released her first album "First" in 2001, in her fourth year of the contract with Capital Artists. Produced by Choy Yat Chi of Grasshopper (band), this EP, containing her first single "Thousands More of Me" (千千萬萬個我) and "Home of Glory" (光榮之家), defined with success Ho's style as the rock pop independent female she is up till recent years. She earned the award of “Best New Singer” in various prize presentation ceremonies that year. In October, Capital Artists announced bankruptcy, resulting in the end of Ho's first record label era.
After Capital Artists closed, Ho joined EMI in 2002. Although she was only with the company for a brief 2-year period, it was during this time that her musical talents flourished. She teamed up with Ying C Foo (英師傅) for her first EMI label release, Hocc². The song "Angel Blues" (天使藍), composed by Ho herself, not only reached top spots on music charts, but according to Ho, it is also her "growing up" song.
Another single in the EP, "Rosemary" (露絲瑪莉), written by Wyman Wong, created considerable controversies at the time, as it touched on the topic of lesbianism. This song also marked the beginning of Ho's series of songs containing gay themes. Following the success of "Rosemary" (露絲瑪莉), Ho continued the story of the two lovers in "Goodbye... Rosemary" (再見...露絲瑪莉) in her first full-length album, free {love}.
In 2002, Ho's two singles "Angel Blues" (天使藍) and "Goodbye... Rosemary" (再見...露絲瑪莉) won multiple music awards in Hong Kong, including CASH Golden Sail Music Awards (CASH金帆音樂獎) – "Best Vocal Performance by a Female Artist" for the song "Angel Blues". In the same year, Ho won the renowned "Female Singer Bronze Award" in the Ultimate Song Chart Awards Presentation (叱吒樂壇流行榜頒獎典禮).
In 2003, Ho held a "Music is Live" concert with Andy Hui, who is also an apprentice of Anita Mui. Their performance won praise from the critics, and Ho proved to the audience her abilities to perform live as a musician. Later that year, Ho released her second full-length album "Dress Me Up!". She was the credited as the producer of the album, indicating that Ho has finally gained full control over her music. In September 2003, Ho's longtime mentor, Anita Mui announced she was diagnosed with cervical cancer. Shortly after the announcement, Anita lost her battle against cervical cancer and died on 30 December 2003.
Between 2003 and 2004, Ho took on the role of hosting TVB's weekly live music show, Jade Solid Gold. In 2004, she appeared in Sammi Cheng's 2004 "Sammi vs. Sammi" concert as a cross-dressing cigarette-smoking admirer of Sammi Cheng. Ho's critically acclaimed performance in the short musical segment not only brought attention to the role she played, but also further established herself as a tremendous live performer. In September 2004, Ho signed a contract with East Asia Music.
2005–2009: Continued success The album "Glamorous", which pays tribute to the superstars of the 1980s, was released in January 2005. It also marked the start of a close collaboration between Ho and the Green Mountain Orchestra band. She was named the Orbis Student Ambassador 2005, and visited Hainan in July. In September 2005, Ho performed in the musical Butterfly Lovers (梁祝下世傳奇) as the leading actress, producer and musical director. Her album of the same name gave her three Number 1 singles – "Becoming a Butterfly" (化蝶), "Lawrence and Lewis" (勞斯．萊斯) and "Coffee in a Soda Bottle" (汽水樽裡的咖啡), which are all based on the story of the Butterfly Lovers, with possible homosexual themes. These singles helped her to receive the "Female Singer Silver Award" at the Ultimate Song Chart Awards Presentation 2005 (叱吒樂壇流行榜頒獎典禮).
Ho held her first Hong Kong Coliseum concert "Live in Unity 2006" on 26–28 October 2006. The concert was a great success and was positively received by the public. She decided to stage a second concert, "Live in Unity 2007", on 19–20 January 2007 following the original concert's success. Her single, "We Stand As One", named after the slogan for the "Live in Unity" concerts, was released on 11 January 2007. Recordings of the concert were later released in February 2007. She went on a worldwide tour, performing in Toronto, Canada and Atlantic City, New Jersey.
The significant public attention and positive reception to her music helped her garner the "Female Singer Gold Award" at the Ultimate Song Chart Awards Presentation 2006 (叱吒樂壇流行榜頒獎典禮). She sang the Chinese version of Ayumi Hamasaki's song "Secret", known as "Wounded City Secret" (傷城秘密), for the 2006 movie Confession of Pain. She continued as the Orbis Student Ambassador 2006 and visited Vietnam, and later started her own charitable fund. In 2008, a new album "Ten Days in the Madhouse" was released. She produced this album from the viewpoint of society's outcasts and to raise awareness of mental health issues. She encouraged people to understand and find out more about people with mental illnesses and those who formerly suffered from mental illnesses, and care about their needs and situations. Ho encouraged communication between them and the public, ultimately, to achieve social harmony. "Ten Days in the Madhouse" was Ho's most ambitious project. Yet, with the release of a documentary by Hong Kong director Yan Yan Mak (Butterfly) and an exhibition for charity, Ho showed that a multimedia project by a musician can be about something more important than clothing tie-ins.
In 2009, she followed up her plan from the previous year and organised a free concert called "Happiness is Free" in the outdoor courtyard of Diocesan Boys' School. She managed to book the place because her father was a teacher there. In June, she began shooting a new TVB sitcom titled O.L. Supreme with Liza Wang. In July, she released her new song "The Old Testament" (舊約) and announced that she would hold her "SUPERGOO" themed concerts from 9–12 October that year. Following the concerts, Ho took on a role in the new stage comedy "Man and Woman, War and Peace" (男人與女人之戰爭與和平) directed by Edward Lam. The stage comedy was presented on 13–16 November at Kwai Tsing Theatre in Hong Kong.
2010–2015: Political awakening In 2010, Ho appeared in the film Life Without Principle directed by Johnnie To.Life Without Principle was chosen as Hong Kong's entry as best foreign-language film in the 85th Academy Awards. See In September 2010, her first Mandarin album "Nameless Poem" (無名．詩) was released in Taiwan and Hong Kong, and she held "Homecoming" concerts in Hong Kong in December 2010. In 2011, Ho received her first nomination in the 22nd Golden Melody Awards as “Best Mandarin Female Singer”.
In 2012, she was nominated in the 49th Golden Horse Award for “Best Actress” for her performance in the movie “Life Without Principle”. In the same year, she came out as gay at the fourth annual Hong Kong Pride Parade, becoming the first "mainstream female singer in Hong Kong to come out of the closet". Since then, Ho has been actively involved in striving for LGBT rights.
In 2013, Ho continued the tour of her play, “Awakening”, in Singapore and in many cities in China. She released her second Mandarin album, “Coexistence”, which touches upon the theme of loving others despite differences. Ho received her second nomination in the 25th Golden Melody Awards as “Best Mandarin Female Singer” in 2014.
At the end of 2014, the Umbrella Movement emerged in Hong Kong. Ho was a staunch supporter of the movement, and was later arrested when the police cleared the protest camps. Her active participation in Hong Kong's large-scale social movement led her to be blacklisted and banned from performing in China.
2015–present: Independent artist In March 2015, Ho's contract with (previously named as East Asia Music) expired. She announced in her Facebook and newspaper column in Apple Daily that she would become an independent artist. Afterwards, she organized multiple events on her own: “Reimagine Live”, a self-funded concert in Taiwan, and a local charity market co-organized with Nomad Nomad. On 19–24 August 2015, she also held a self-funded concert “Reimagine HK18” in Hong Kong Queen Elizabeth Stadium.
On 7–10 October 2016, Ho returned to the Hong Kong Coliseum for her first crowdfunded concert “Dear Friend,”. As she was banned and blacklisted by China, Ho could not find any powerful sponsor that would support her shows. So she came up with a crowdfunding alternative she called “Togetherly Exclusive.” She invited individuals and small and medium enterprises to pledge sponsorship for the event. Eventually, sponsored by over 300 small enterprises and individuals, the four-day concert was successfully held and revisited 24 of the singer's greatest hits.
Approaching the end of 2016, Ho was selected by the BBC as one of the “100 Women 2016”. From the end of 2017 to 2018, she went on a worldwide tour called “Dear Self, Dear World”, performing in Britain, Taiwan and the United States and Canada. She originally planned to continue the tour in Malaysia, but was forced to cancel as her visa application was rejected by the Immigration Department of Malaysia. In May 2018, Ho published a new song “Polar”, marking her first attempt to write lyrics for a song. In September, Ho collaborated with Taiwanese band Chthonic on their song Millennia's Faith Undone, which required her to sing in Taiwanese Hokkien. Later, an acoustic version of the song was also released. At the end of 2018, she successfully organized a 6-day event called “On The Pulse Of” Festival in Hong Kong Science Park. The event is a combination of local market, music festival and Ho's concert. She tried to invite Chthonic to perform together in the festival, but the band's work visa application was denied. Eventually, Ho managed to make a joint performance on stage with Chthonic in her concert through video chat.