Ellen Joyce Loo
Toronto 43° 39' 12.53" N, 79° 23' 2.16" W Music Person
Ellen Joyce Loo[edit]
Born in Toronto, Canada, Loo moved to Hong Kong with her family when she was four. A talented musician who came to terms with her bipolar disorder and sexuality, Loo formed the alternative Canto-pop duo at17 with Eman Lam Yee-man when she was just 15 years old. Recruited by the music label People Mountain People Sea label at17 broken from the norms of the Cantonese music industry by writing and performing their own music. After at17 went their separate ways in 2010, Loo became a musician, composer, and producer, and pursued her career in Taiwan, where she earned great success with her unique blend of pop and folktronica. In 2017, Loo took the award for best arrangement at the Golden Melody Awards in Taiwan. In 2016, Loo married her wife in 2016 and came out publicly as a lesbian.
Diverging from many Hong Kong celebrities who either remain silent or pledge loyalty to China, Loo was vocal about her political views, particularly during the days of the Occupy protests in 2014, which resulted in her being banned from performing her music in the country in 2015.. In 2017, Loo reunited with at17 and performed a reunion show called the Girls Girls Girls Live in Concert at Queen Elizabeth Stadium, her first show in seven years. Loo committed suicide in 2018 at her Happy Valley home.