I am sorry that I will start with a bit of disgraceful question, but who would have thought that Sinead O' Connor would live longer than Dolores O'Riordan? Two of Ireland's best female singers marked the 90s with their idiosyncratic vocals. Somehow, the wild past of Dolores got to her first.
Brothers Mike and Noel Hogan formed The Cranberries in 1989 in Irish Limerick where they worked for a year with another singer before finding 19 years old Dolores over a newspaper ad. With her powerful vocal, she responded to the new trends of the 90s, which was shoegaze melancholy. Stephen Street, a guy who was responsible for the sound of The Smiths and Blur, will take the best out of Dolores on The Cranberries' debut Everybody Else Is Doing It So Why Can't We. Melodic dreaminess confronted with strong Irish accent was a perfect sonic juxtaposition of her interpretation. Dolores took the spotlight from distorted guitars and helped the band become a successful brand on the market of The United States. It wasn't until their biggest hit, Zombie, that the band also became famous in UK. I remember the first time I heard Zombie. I was on the basketball court in my school during the breakfast break and the song was coming from the speakers. I was ten, and I barely knew English, so I remember me and my peers trying to discern what was she saying in the song. Zombie was probably the first international hit in my school, If we ignore Macarena (I am not even sure which came first). It's where it all started for The Cranberries. Still, it turned out as the beginning of the end for Dolores.
In 2015, Dolores publicly confessed that she is struggling with bipolar mental disorder and noted that her psychological issues are probably a consequence of being molested in her childhood. This terrible disease triggered Dolores' anorexia.
The most depressive day of the year, aka Blue Monday, brought sad news. On January 15th of 2018, Dolores fell asleep forever in hotel room in London during the recording break. The causes of her death are still unknown. My heart is still broken so I hope you will forgive me for ending the article abruptly. It will take some time to let go this Irish fairy. Rest in peace, my love.
