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Struggling with the strains of fame and success, O’Riordan felt increasingly isolated, she suffered with depression and anorexia throughout her adult life. “The song also carried a more universal message against violence” Despite re-uniting in 2009 after O’Riordan’s under-the-radar solo stint, the band found themselves unable to re-discover their mid-90s flair. The highly-successful album No Need to Argue was followed by a string of comparatively disappointing albums and The Cranberries split in 2003.

The song also carried a more universal message against violence towards innocent civilians in conflict, a message that O’Riordan emphasised through dedicating the song to the people of war-torn Bosnia and Rwanda throughout the 90s. Identifying her rejection of sectarian strife with Ireland’s younger generation, this was a slap in the face to those who, in response to the song, accused O’Riordan of being naïve and taking sides in a conflict she didn’t understand. Speaking of the IRA, O’Riordan said ‘It’s not Ireland, it’s some idiots living in the past’.

The bombing touched a particular nerve because it targeted ordinary people, and those it killed (three-year old Tim Parry and 12-year-old Johnathan Ball) were so young. Although other bands had previously addressed the Troubles, such as U2 with “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and Simple Minds with “Belfast Child”, “Zombie” was particularly pertinent, because it coincided with a wave of revulsion against the IRA across Britain and Ireland, in the wake of the Warrington bombing. O'Riordan singing onstage at the height of The Cranberries fame, 1995 Unknown Authorįollowing the success of “Zombie”, the band dived straight into the eye of the Irish political hurricane. The song was highly successful, topping charts across Europe and North America. Different from their other material, the song’s powerful denunciation of the IRA in response to the Warrington bombing required a different sonic palette, featuring pummelling and distorted guitars. The Cranberries’ second album featured the seminal hit “Zombie”. One can still encounter bemusement and the occasional judgemental snigger when expressing a preference for O’Riordan’s melodramatic ballads over the acceptably cooler bands of the era. However, the band remained equally derided and adored by British audiences. While failing to warm to the eccentricities of Brett Anderson, American audiences, with their disregard for hipdom and desire for something different from angst-ridden grunge, fell in love with the charming foursome from Limerick.Īmerican stardom inevitably led to success in Britain, with both Everyone Else and their second album No Need to Argue (1994) going multi-platinum. Nevertheless, great success finally came when the band played as the support act to Suede on their 1993 US tour. “American audiences fell in love with the charming foursome” Critics labelled it as unexciting and traditional in comparison to the major British rock releases of the year, such as Suede’s eponymous debut album, or Blur’s Modern Life is Rubbish.

The Cranberries’ first album, Everyone Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We? (1993), initially received a lukewarm reception from the British music press. From the haunting Siren-like wails of “Daffodil Lament” to the enchanting breathy whispers of “Still Can’t…”, O’Riordan’s lyrics of love, loneliness, and loss set The Cranberries apart from the grunge and Britpop that dominated the rock scene in the early and mid-90s. The band’s unique sound was a fusion of O’Riordan’s melancholic, keening vocals and soft rock instrumentals, inspired by the likes of The Cure and The Smiths. The fact that she wasn’t already in a band was a miracle’. Joining the band aged 18 in 1990, O’Riordan demonstrated great potential from the start guitarist Noel Hogan later recalled ‘We were blown away that this small girl from Limerick had such an amazing voice. The 15th January 2021 will mark three years since the untimely death of Dolores O’Riordan, best known as the lead vocalist and lyricist of the Irish alternative rock band The Cranberries.