Originally named Koo Ka-Iai, Koo Mei was born in Guangzhou in 1934 and moved to Hong Kong in 1950. She was a famous Hong Kong singer and actress in her early years. She started to paint in 1963 under the tutelage of three Chinese ink masters, Hong Kong's Lui Shou-kwan, Zhao Shao-ang and Taiwan's Hu Nianzu. In the 1970s, she gave up her performing career to become a professional artist. She received the Urban Council Artist Award of the Hong Kong Museum of Art in 1977. She moved to Canada in 1984 where she currently resides. She had her first solo exhibition in 1971 in Taipei. Since then, she has had around 30 solo exhibitions in United States, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Hong Kong. Her works are collected by several museums and collectors, such as Utah State University, United States, Hong Kong Museum of Art, the Canadian Consulate General in Hong Kong, Bank of America, Bank of Australia, CITI Bank, and Hutchison and Shaw Brothers in Hong Kong.
