Today we will tell you about the well-known Irish singer and songwriter Dolores O'Riordan
from "The Cranberries":
(Photo: XAVI TORRENT)
1. She was born in Ireland on September 6, 1971, and she died on January 15, 2018.
2. She is the youngest of 7 brothers and sisters.
3. She attended a religious school and already at the age of 7 the school staff recognized her singing talent. At age 12, she stood on one of the school desks and loudly announced her name and intentions to be a rock star.
4. From the age of 8 to 12, she was sexually abused by an acquaintance whose identity is still unknown. The song "Fee Fi Fo" from the band's fourth album talks about the subject.
5. During the 6 years she attended Laurel Hill School she played the piano almost every day in the school hallway with the other students sitting around her.
6. At the age of 17 she learned to play the guitar and replaced the piano performances at school, with the guitar, performing alone in front of everyone.
(Photo: DONNA SANTISI)
7. Dolores mother pressured her to become a nun or go on to academic studies but Dolores wanted to be a singer and at the age of 18 she ran away from home with her partner and lived for almost a year and a half in utter poverty to pursue her dream.
8. In 1989 a band called "The Cranberry Saw Us" in the same city of Dolores was looking for a lead singer. Since the band's lead singer, Kevin, decided he was leaving, and he knew Dolores he offered her the role.
9. Dolores came to the audition and took an instrumental tape of the band's materials and after a short time came back with lyrics and vocals. When she sang the song "Linger" she amazed the band members and immediately got the role.
(Photo: The Cranberries)
10. The band consisted of Mike Hogan on bass, Noel Hogan on guitar, drummer Fergal Lawler, and Dolores. Immediately after that, the band changed its name to "The Cranberry" and released an EP with three songs called "Nothing Left At All".
11. The demo is what created the band's spark and gave it great exposure in the music industry and radio stations in the UK.
12. The Cranberries' first album was released in 1993 and was called "Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We?" It was written by Dolores and Mike. The album reached number one in the UK and Ireland.
13. The second album "No Need to Argue" was released in 1994 and was the band's most successful album with the band's most famous song "Zombie". A year later the band broke the Irish band's sales record in the US since the U2 band's success.
14. The third album "To the Faithful Departed" was released in 1996 and as its name implies, it was dedicated to two important people in the band. One is their manager from the beginning Denny Cordell and the other is Dolores' grandfather, both of whom passed away that year.
15. The band's fourth album "Bury the Hatchet" was released in 1999 and reflected Dolores' past experiences in the three years prior to the album, the birth of her first son, and dealing with the effects of stress and anxiety.
16. The fifth album "Wake Up and Smell the Coffee" released in 2001 was the last before the band took a break/farewell that lasted until 2009.
(Photo: Jess Baumung)
17. In 2004 Dolores participated in the soundtrack of the Italian film "Evilenko" in which she wrote and recorded a number of songs.
18. Dolores was invited and performed several times during the period in Vatican concerts and met with 2 different popes.
19. In 2007 Dolores released her first solo album "Are You Listening?" And went on a tour to promote the album in clubs and small halls in Europe and the USA.
20. Dolores' second album "No Baggage" was released in 2009. Although it won the EBBA Award for Artists Who Break Through the Boundaries of Their Country, her solo albums were not a great success, neither in the UK nor in Ireland.
21. On January 21, 2009, Dolores received a Medal of Honor from the Philosophical Society (Trinity College, Dublin) and invited the "Cranberries" to perform at the ceremony.
22. This performance began with a string of reunion performances by the band, including a special performance in their hometown of Limerick that took place 15 years after their last appearance there.
23. In 2012, 10 years after the band's last album, she released her sixth album "Roses". Although 18 songs were recorded for the album, only 11 of them were released on the album.
24. In 2014 Dolores joined DJ Olé Koretsky and bassist Smith Andy Rourke and together they formed the alternative band D.A.R.K. They released a single album in 2016 called "Science Agrees".
25. In 2017 "The Cranberries" released a special acoustic album recorded with the Irish Chamber Orchestra and included 10 old songs of the band in acoustic performance and another 3 new songs.
26. The band announced a special tour to support the album which included accompaniment by a live orchestra but immediately upon the start of the tour it was discontinued due to medical issues which Dolores contracted.
27. Several months later, on 15 January 2018, Dolores was found dead in a hotel in London. The cause of death determined was drowning in the bath as a result of intoxication.
28. After Dolores' death, the band decided to take the material recorded before her death and release their latest album with it. In April 2019, the band's last album was released called "In the End", the last song on the album bears the name of the album and symbolizes the band's end.
30. In her last years Dolores suffered from bipolar disorder, anorexia, and severe back problems that affected her ability to live a normal life and also her ability to sing.
Listen to the band's latest album on: Spotify, Apple Music