Cranberries star Dolores O’Riordan dies at 46
SINGER Dolores O’Riordan, who led The Cranberries to international success in the 1990s, died yesterday at the age of 46.
The Irish musician, who was in London for a recording session, was found dead in a room at the Hilton hotel on Park Lane.
Her publicist last night described her death as ‘sudden’ and added: ‘Family members are devastated to hear the news and have requested privacy at this very difficult time.’ No further details were available.
Irish president Michael D Higgins led tributes, saying: ‘Dolores and The Cranberries had an immense influence on rock and pop music. To all those who follow and support Irish music, musicians and the performing arts her death will be a big loss.’
TV chat show host James Corden and singer Ronan Keating also paid tribute while Irish band Kodaline tweeted: ‘Absolutely shocked. @The-Cranberries gave us our first big support. Thoughts are with her family and friends.’
The Limerick-born singer and songwriter joined the indie-rock band in 1990 and they later shot to fame with hit singles Linger and Zombie.
She left The Cranberries in 2003 to embark on a solo career, but returned in 2009. The band were forced to cancel gigs in the UK, Europe and the US last year when doctors advised O’Riordan to stop working for medical reasons associated with a back problem.
But just before Christmas, O’Riordan — tweeting via the band’s official account — said she was ‘feeling good’ and had done her ‘first bit of gigging in months’, leading fans to believe she would soon be performing again.
The singer had suffered from bi-polar disorder. In 2014 she admitted an air rage assault on an Aer Lingus flight from New York to Dublin.
She is survived by son Taylor and daughters Molly and Dakota.
The London Hilton said it offered ‘sincere condolences’ to relatives. Met police said the death was being treated as ‘unexplained’.
Author: Tom Stichbury
