Denise Ho

Denise Ho Wan-see (born 10 May 1977) is a Hong Kong-born Canadian Cantopop singer and actress.

She is also a pro-democracy and Hong Kong human rights activist.

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.

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.

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 2012, Ho came out as lesbian, the first mainstream Cantonese singer to do so.

In 2014, Ho was blacklisted by the Chinese government and dropped by the luxury brand Lancôme for her participation in the Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong.

On 28 December 2021, Ho was arrested by the Hong Kong police under the joint charges of both production and distribution of seditious materials.

Ho was born in Hong Kong.

Both of her parents were teachers.

She began her primary school education at the Diocesan Girls' Junior School.