| Dolores O'Riordan |
|
| Background information |
| Birth name |
Dolores Mary Eileen O'Riordan |
| Born |
6 September 1971
Ballybricken, County Limerick, Ireland |
| Died |
15 January 2018 (aged 46)
London, England, UK |
| Genres |
Alternative rock, post-grunge,Celtic rock |
| Occupation(s) |
Musician, singer-songwriter |
| Instruments |
Vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass |
| Years active |
1990–2018 |
| Labels |
Sanctuary, Cooking Vinyl |
| Associated acts |
The Cranberries, D.A.R.K. |
Dolores Mary Eileen O'Riordan(; 6 September 1971 – 15 January 2018) was an Irish musician and singer-songwriter. She led the rock band the Cranberries for 13 years before the band took a break starting in 2003, reuniting in 2009.[1]
Her first solo album, Are You Listening?, was released in May 2007 and was followed up byNo Baggage in 2009. O'Riordan was known for her lilting mezzo-soprano voice,[2] her emphasized use of yodeling and for her strongLimerick accent.[3] She appeared as a judge on RTÉ's The Voice of Ireland during the2013–14 season. In April 2014, O'Riordan joined and began recording new material with the trio D.A.R.K.
O'Riordan died unexpectedly on 15 January 2018, while she was in London, England, for a recording session.
Early life
Dolores Mary Eileen O'Riordan was born and brought up in Ballybricken, a town in County Limerick, Ireland. She was the daughter of Terence and Eileen O'Riordan and the youngest of seven children. She attended Laurel Hill Coláiste FCJ school in Limerick.[4]
Career
The Cranberries
In 1990 O'Riordan auditioned for and won the role of lead singer for a band called The Cranberry Saw Us (later changed to The Cranberries).[5] The band released five albums: Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We?(1993), No Need to Argue (1994), To the Faithful Departed(1996), Bury the Hatchet (1999) and Wake Up and Smell the Coffee (2001) and a greatest-hits compilation entitledStars: The Best of 1992–2002 (2002), before they went on hiatus in 2003.[6]
O'Riordan has been recognized as a style icon, sporting apixie cut or buzzed hair in the '90s.[7]
On 25 August 2009, while promoting her solo album No Baggage in New York City on 101.9 RXP radio, O'Riordan announced the reunion of The Cranberries for a world tour. The tour began in North America in mid November, followed by South America in mid January 2010 and Europe in March 2010.[8] Also touring with the original members of The Cranberries was musician Denny DeMarchi, who played the keyboard for O'Riordan's solo albums.[9]
The band played songs from O'Riordan's solo albums, many of The Cranberries' classics, as well as new songs the band had been working on. On 9 June 2010 The Cranberries performed at the Special Olympics opening ceremony at Thomond Park in Limerick. This was the first time the band had performed in their native city in over 15 years.[10]
On 26 May 2016, the band announced that they planned to start a tour in Europe. The first show was held on 3 June.[11]
Solo career
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Dolores O'Riordan and
Luciano Pavarotti
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In 2004, she appeared with the Italian artist Zuccheroon the album Zu & Co., with the song "Pure Love". The album also featured other artists such as Sting,Sheryl Crow, Luciano Pavarotti, Miles Davis,John Lee Hooker, Macy Gray and Eric Clapton. The same year she worked with composer Angelo Badalamenti on the Evilenko soundtrack, providing vocals on several tracks, including "Angels Go to Heaven", the movie theme.[12][13]
In 2005, she appeared on the Jam & Spoon's album Tripomatic Fairytales 3003 as a guest vocalist on the track "Mirror Lover".[14] O'Riordan also made a cameo appearance in theAdam Sandler comedy Click, released on 23 June 2006, as a wedding singer performing an alternate version of The Cranberries' song "Linger", set to strings. Her first single, "Ordinary Day", was produced by BRIT Awards winner, Youth, whose previous credits include The Verve, Embrace, Primal Scream, U2 and Paul McCartney.[15] O'Riordan made an appearance live on The Late Late Show on 20 April 2007.[16]
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Are You Listening? was released in the Republic of Ireland in 4 May 2007, in Europe on 7 May, and in North America on 15 May. "Ordinary Day" was its first single, released in late April. The video for "Ordinary Day" was shot in Prague. In August "When We Were Young" was released as the second single from the album.[17][18]
In 2006, O'Riordan was listed among the ten richest women in Ireland.[19]
On 19 November 2007, she cancelled the remainder of her European Tour (Lille, Paris,Luxembourg, Warsaw and Prague) due to illness.[20] In December she performed in a few small American clubs, including Des Moines, Nashville, and a well-received free show inCharlottesville, Virginia.[21] Her second album, No Baggage, featuring eleven tracks, was released in August 2009.[22]
In 2008, O'Riordan won an EBBA Award. Every year the European Border Breakers Awards recognise the success of ten emerging artists or groups who reached audiences outside their own countries with their first internationally released album in the past year.[23]
She appeared as a judge on RTÉ's The Voice of Ireland during the 2013–14 season.[24]
D.A.R.K.
O'Riordan began recording new material with JETLAG, a collaboration between Andy Rourke of The Smiths and Ole Koretsky, in April 2014. They then formed a trio under the name D.A.R.K. Their first album, Science Agrees, was released in September 2016.[25][26]
Personal life
On 18 July 1994, O'Riordan married Don Burton, the former tour manager of Duran Duran. The couple had three children. In 1998, the couple bought a 61-hectare (150-acre) stud farm, called Riversfield Stud, located in Kilmallock, County Limerick, selling it six years later in 2004. They then moved to Howth, County Dublin, and spent summers in a log cabin located in Buckhorn, Ontario, Canada.[27][28] In 2009, the family moved full-time to their home in Buckhorn.[29]
In August 2013, she returned to live in Ireland. She and Burton split up in 2014 after 20 years together, and subsequently divorced.[30]
She was raised as a Roman Catholic.[31] Her mother was a devout Catholic who chose her daughter's name in reference to the Lady of the Seven Dolours. Dolores admired Pope John Paul II. After meeting him inside Vatican City, O'Riordan remarked: "[He] was lovely, very saintly. I was mad about him. I thought he really cared for the poor and he loved to meet the people. I saw him when he came to Limerick, when I was a kid. So it was pretty mindblowing to take my mum out to meet him."[32] She met John Paul II twice, in 2001 and 2002.[33] She performed at the invitation of Pope Francis in 2013 at the Vatican's annual Christmas concert.[34]
O'Riordan was an Honorary Patron of University Philosophical Society (Trinity College, Dublin).[35][36]
In November 2014, O'Riordan was arrested and charged in connection with air rage on anAer Lingus flight from New York to Shannon. During the flight she grew verbally and physically abusive with crew. When police were arresting her after landing, she resisted, reminding them her taxes paid their wages and shouting "I'm the Queen of Limerick! I'm an icon!", headbutting one garda and spitting at another.[37] Later she told the media that she had been stressed from living in New York hotels following the end of her 20-year marriage.[38] The judge hearing her case agreed to dismiss all charges if she apologized in writing to those she injured and contributed €6,000 to the court poor box.[37]
In May 2017, she publicly discussed her bipolar disorder, which she said had been diagnosed two years earlier. She said she had struggled with the symptoms for years.[39]The Cranberries cited her "back problems" as the reason for cancelling, in May 2017, the second part of the group's European tour. In late 2017, O'Riordan said she was recovering and performed at a private event.[40][41]
Death
On 15 January 2018, at the age of 46, while in London for a recording session, O'Riordan died unexpectedly at a hotel.[24][42] The cause of death has not yet been made public.[43]
Irish president Michael D. Higgins was one of the first to pay tribute.[44] Other early tributes came in from across the music world, including Dave Davies (of the Kinks), Hozier andKodaline.[45] The Taoiseach of Ireland, Leo Varadkar, also paid tribute to O’Riordan.[46]
Solo discography
Solo albums
Other appearances
References
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