The Irish band, The Cranberries have lost their lead singer, Dolores O’Riordan on Monday. She was 46 years of age.
The songwriter-singers' publicist Lindsey Holmes stated that O’Riordan, who was recording in London, had passed away, though the cause of her demise was not made known to the public immediately.
Holmes confirmed that the incident happened at a London hotel, but declined to supply further details. She said that O’Riordan’s family is devastated by the news.
Her Cranberries bandmates – Mike Hogan, Noel Hogan, and Fergus Lawler – tweeted that O’Riordan was such an extraordinary talent and felt privileged to have been part of her life.
Officers of the London Metropolitan Police were summoned to the Hilton hotel in London’s Park Lane just after 9 a.m. on Monday to a room where a woman who was in her late 40s had died. The police force filed away the circumstances surrounding the death as ‘unexplained.’
Michael D. Higgins, Ireland’s President, said The Cranberries and O’Riordan had a profound influence on pop and rock music, both locally and internationally.
O’Riordan was born on September 6, 1971, in Ballybricken, southwest Ireland. Back in 1990, she answered an advert from a local band in neighboring Limerick city – formerly called The Cranberry Saw Us – who was searching for a lead singer.
A confluence of factors as well as a change of name turned The Cranberries band into international stars. The band’s songs, with O’Riordan being co-songwriter NS chief lyricist, had a tunefulness that bordered on Celtic infusion. At the time when grunge was the rave of the moment, the guitar-based sound churned out by The Cranberries was a breath of fresh air and an alternative-rock edge. O’Riordan was called the voice of The Cranberries as the group had a charismatic lead singer who had a characteristically powerful voice.
The debut single “Dream” enjoyed a heavy play on MTV and the other singles that followed suit helped bring The Cranberries to the attention of the public.
“Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We?” The Cranberries 1993 debut album, sold millions of copies. They later produced a hit single “Linger.” The next single they released, “No Need to Argue,” also sold millions of copies and was much loved by the mass audience. The album contained a favorite track “Zombie,” which was an emotional cry against Northern Ireland’s fierce Troubles which topped the singles chart in more than a few countries.
Leo Varadkar, the Irish Prime Minister, tweeted on Monday that for anyone who grew up in Ireland, especially in the 1990s, Dolores O’Riordan was the ‘voice of the generation.’ She blazed a trail as the female lead singer of a rock band that was hugely successful. She just might have been the greatest rock star ever to emerge from Limerick.
The Cranberries went ahead to release three additional studio albums before they split in 2003. In 2007, O’Riordan then released a solo album titled, “Are You Listening?” and another one, “No Baggage” in 2009. The Cranberries came together again that same year and released the album, “Roses” in 2012.
