Malaysian-Chinese singer Jess Lee (李佳薇) recently made headlines—not just for her vocals, but for her self-introduction: “The closest I’ve come to being a diva was being the real estate diva.”
This year marks the singer’s 15th year in the industry. Yet in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic brought Jess Lee’s music career to a standstill. She had left her former agency and didn’t have opportunities to sing. Her manager asked if she was willing to sing in live house, bar settings as she couldn’t even get singing gigs. She said yes, as she was ready to grab any opportunity. However, she needed to keep earning money to maintain her lifestyle.
From Real Estate Struggles to the Singer 2025 Stage
Jess Lee reveals that she hadn’t told anyone about her career switch. She just put on a face mask and used the alias Li Kaiwei instead of her name Li Jiawei to become a real estate agent. However, media outlets caught wind of it and reported how the music diva had “fallen.” The 37-year-old singer admitted falling into despair when the news first came out, as she didn’t want anyone to know. It’s not because she looks down on the profession or doesn’t like the job, but rather she’s afraid people will remember her as a uniformed real estate agent, when she hopes to be remembered as the confident and glistening star on stage.
But on Singer 2025, where she recently came as a challenger and won a spot on the show, Jess Lee—who chose to sing Tian Hou, a song that carried symbolic weight instead of her breakout hit Suffering—stunned viewers with her strong vocals that were broadcast live. Public reaction was swift. Jess Lee trended number one on the Chinese hot search, moving many with her story. Jess Lee said the closest she’s been to a diva was being a diva who sells houses. She hopes to drop selling houses from that title to simply be known as a music diva.
Source: Li Jia Wei Jess
