The day the ethereal voice of “The Cranberry” fell silent.

Dolores O'Riordan, singer of The Cranberries, was found dead at the age of 46 in a bathtub in a London hotel on January 15, 2018.

Irish singer and iconic rock band Dolores O'Riordan was one of the voices that left an indelible mark on music.

Her heartbreaking lyrics and unique stage presence made her a legendary music figure and musical icon.

With their unique, ethereal sound, the band's songs like “Linger” and “Zombie” became huge hits, selling over 40 million records and becoming The Cranberries the second best-selling rock band after U2.

“The strange girl with the amazing voice” from Ireland

Dolores O'Riordan was born in 1971 and grew up near Limerick, Ireland.

He was the youngest of seven children in a devout Catholic family. Her father was injured in a bicycle accident and was unable to work. One time, her sister accidentally burned down the family home. During the difficult childhood years, a dramatic event was added that will haunt her forever. rape.

It is no coincidence that she would say in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine in 1995: “I have many secrets about my childhood.”

O'Riordan admitted in 2013, in an interview with the Irish Independent, that she had been sexually abused between the ages of 8 and 12 by a family friend.

Music became her escape. In elementary school, her voice emerged: “When I would start singing, everyone in the room would stop and listen,” she told Rolling Stone.

Dolores O'Riordan in the movie “The Cranberries”

In 1990, he met an Irish band called Cranberry Saw Us and replaced the late singer. The band changed their name to Cranberry and are now the frontman of the band.

The songwriter and performer with his distinctive voice and Irish accent breathed new life into the band. “We had no idea before the tragedy (her death) happened what we meant to so many people,” the three remaining Cranberries will say in their interview with The Independent, 15 months after the sudden death of their famous singer.

Image source APE-MPE

The band was formed by brothers Noel and Mike Hogan with drummer Fergal Lawler. The band's voice was Niall Quinn, who left and was replaced after the audition by Dolores O'Riordan. “Dolores came in and sang some songs I wrote,” says Mike Hogan. “We were amazed that this little girl from Limerick had such an amazing voice. The fact that he wasn't already in the band was a miracle.”

Dolores O'Riordan remained in the alternative rock band until they disbanded in 2003. She released five albums with them to great success and sold over 40 million records.

They recall that O'Riordan was initially so shy that she sang with her back to the audience on stage.

The Cranberries made their debut in 1993 with the album “Everyone is doing it, so why shouldn't we?”
The songs that emerged and rose to the top of the international ranks included:stayed», «dreams», «zombies», «animal Instinctinterspersed with O'Riordan's “haunted” voice.

The following albums, “No Need to Argue” (1994) and “To the Faithful Departe” (1996), cemented The Cranberries' standing in the alternative rock scene. As Al Hogan said: “There are songs we wrote 20 years ago that I still hear sung to this day.”

“Zombie” is a typical hit for “The Cranberry.” The song was inspired by Dolores when while on tour she learned of a double bombing by the Irish Democratic Army. The explosions resulted in 54 people being injured, while two children died: 3-year-old Jonathan Paul and 12-year-old Tim Perry. The music video for the song was filled with symbols of violence.

Dolores O'Riordan's association with the band ended in 2003, after 13 years. In 2009, the members reunited for a world tour in America and Europe. The band also visited Greece, where they played a concert in Athens, at Lycabettus, in June 2007.

The highlight of 'The Cranberries'' career was their participation in the opening ceremony of Special Olympics at Thomond Park in Limerick on June 9, 2010, their homecoming gala.

Dolores O'Riordan's Demons

While Dolores O'Riordan's career in music was very successful, she could not escape her demons, which haunted her throughout her life through a diagnosis of mania and nervous breakdowns.

In the last years of her life, after her breakup with Duran Duran's manager, Don Burton, she learned that she suffered from bipolar disorder. In 2014, he found himself in a rage and attacked a police officer during a flight from New York to Ireland. The court fined the singer 6,000 euros.

“You think it's your fault. This happens. And I buried it inside. If I do that, you'll bury it because you're ashamed. I hate you. Then I became famous, I was 18, and my career took off. Then everything got harder and I developed anorexia. So I was wearing this mask on stage. “But I was living with anorexia nervosa, with depression, with nervous breakdowns,” the “The Cranberry” singer said of the impact of sexual harassment on her life.

Her collaborators from The Cranberries talk about the release of their third album, describing Dolores O'Riordan as extremely anorexic, living on the brink of collapse.

They even admitted that she was so thin that she hurt her knee and there was no muscle around her to support her and she completely collapsed. In 2013, she reached the point of wanting to end her life, but thinking about her three children prompted her to continue.

The tragic ending

The end of the Irish musician came suddenly, surprising everyone. On January 15, 2018, the famous artist was found dead and drowned in the bathroom of the hotel where she was staying. The tragic news shocked the planet. An absolute music icon has died.

The results of the investigation showed that she had consumed a large amount of alcohol and that her death was due to drowning. He was only 46 years old.

Dolores O'Riordan was in London to record a new rendition of “Zombie” with rock band Bad Wolves.

To honor her memory a year later the band released their song “All Over Now” with lyrics written by themselves. The song was released with the album “In The End”, the last with Dolores O'Riordan's vocals.

“The hardest part for all of us was starting to work on the demos a few months after her death. It was very difficult at first to hear Dolores' voice over the speakers. I couldn't stand it for a while,” the band's guitarist Noel Hogan told the BBC. long”.

The 46-year-old singer was buried in her Irish homeland in a church in the village of Ballybricken, outside Limerick. Her three children, Taylor, Molly and Dakota, mourned her farewell while her song “Miss You When You're Gone” was played, while her ex-husband Don Burton carried her casket.