The music world lost a beloved figure today, as Dolores O’Riordan, lead singer of alt-rock/pop band The Cranberries, has passed away. She was just 46.
At the time of her death, no cause was given. The singer hadn’t publicly revealed any illnesses, so her death came as a surprise to fans around the world, and according to the musician’s publicist, her “family members are devastated to hear the breaking news,” which makes this sound like it came as a shock to them as well. O’Riordan is survived by her three children.
The Cranberries first popped up on the U.S. scene back in 1993 with the breakout song “Linger,” which became the rare crossover hit that succeeded both in the alternative world and on the Top 40 landscape. “Linger” rose all the way to No. 8 on the Hot 100, making it the band’s highest-charting song and sole top 10. The group would go on to follow that successful single with fellow popular cuts like “Free to Decide” and “When You’re Gone,” both of which also peaked inside the Top 40 in the States. While it didn’t chart well in America, another single entitled “Zombie” has stood the test of time and remained a favorite of fans and ‘90s babies since it was released in 1994.
The Cranberries charted a pair of top 10 albums in the U.S.—1994’s No Need to Argue (No. 6) and 1996’s To the Faithful Departed (No. 4)—as well as a handful of other full-lengths that managed to make some impact on the Billboard 200. Most of their releases went either gold or platinum, and they even saw their biggest releases go multi-platinum. They released their seventh album Something Else just last year.
The band’s charting record is even more impressive in the U.K. and their homeland of Ireland, where they claim 11 Top 40 hits and several No. 1 albums.
In addition to her work with the group that made her a star, O’Riordan also released a pair of solo albums during the band's decade-long hiatus. Both 2007’s Are You Listening? And 2009’s No Baggage were fairly well-received, and they charted well enough throughout Europe, though the material she released on her own didn’t perform quite as well as the music she shared while she was fronting The Cranberries.
From her distinctive voice to her incredible songwriting chops, O’Riordan helped bring Irish talent to the world in a way that few acts had ever done, and The Cranberries pushed alternative rock into the mainstream in a powerful, important way in the 90’s, and her fans will surely remember her for being a trailblazer in this way.
