Dolores O’Riordan, whose urgent, powerful voice helped make Irish rock band The Cranberries a global success in the 1990s, died suddenly on Monday at a London hotel. She was 46. The singer’s publicist, Lindsey Holmes, confirmed she died in London, where she was recording.
“No further details are available at this time,” Holmes said, adding that the singer’s family was “devastated” by the news.
Irish President Michael D. Higgins said O’Riordan and The Cranberries “had an immense influence on rock and pop music in Ireland and internationally.”
O’Riordan was born on Sept. 6, 1971 in Ballybricken, southwest Ireland. In 1990, she answered an ad from a local band in nearby Limerick city — then called The Cranberry Saw Us — that was looking for a lead singer. A name change and a confluence of factors turned The Cranberries into international stars. Their guitar-based sound had an alternative-rock edge at a time when grunge was storming the music scene.
Here are some memorable Cranberries songs:
Dreams
“Dreams” was incredibly popular in Asia after Chinese musician and actress Faye Wong covered it in the film “Chungking Express”. The Chinese lyrics are totally different from the original lyrics however.
Here’s Wong singing her Cantonese version in concert (No idea about that Native American headdress…):
The same Faye Wong Cranberries cover in Mandarin:
Zombie
Linger
Ode to my family
I Can’t Be With You
Just my imagination
Salvation
When You’re Gone
Free to decide
I’m still remembering
Story by the Associated Press with information from CGTN America.