Dolores O’Riordan Lead Singer Of The Cranberries, Dead At 46

Rest in peace. Our hearts will never be the same.

Photo by shutterstock

We are gutted to report that Dolores O’Riordan, the lead singer of one of our favorite bands of all time, The Cranberries, died yesterday (Monday, January 15th, 2018) in her hotel room in London at the young age of 46.

Her band confirmed her death in a heartbreaking-yet-brief statement: “Irish and international singer Dolores O’Riordan has died suddenly in London today. She was 46 years old. The lead singer with the Irish band The Cranberries was in London for a short recording session. No further details are available at this time. Family members are devastated to hear the breaking news and have requested privacy at this very difficult time.”

No direct cause of her death has been revealed. Police were allegedly called to her room at The Park Lane Hotel in London, where O’Riordan was pronounced dead at the scene.

In a statement the president of Ireland, Michael Higgins said,

“It is with great sadness that I have learned of the death of Dolores O’Riordan, musician, singer and songwriter. Dolores O’Riordan and The Cranberries had an immense influence on rock and pop music in Ireland and internationally. I recall with fondness the late Limerick TD Jim Kemmy’s introduction of her and The Cranberries to me, and the pride he and so many others took in their successes. To all those who follow and support Irish music, Irish musicians and the performing arts her death will be a big loss.”

O’Riodarn’s death was wildly unexpected and our heart aches for her family, her band, her friends, and for of us fans, who are mourning the great loss of one of the most influential women of our generation.

O’Riodarn’s haunting and powerful voice is what got so many of us 90s’ kids through the painful trials and tribulations of adolescence/teenage-hood and we are forever grateful to have grown up to the powerful sound of The Cranberries.

Growing up a closeted lesbian, I always felt comforted by O’Riodarn, because even though she didn’t necessarily identify as queer, she was unabashedly herself, always created from honest, vulnerable perspective, and in a time when grunge boys ruled the scene, she threw herself out there, without holding herself back to appease the likes of the boys club.

Rest in peace. Our hearts will never be the same.


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