I never truly grasped the weight of celebrity deaths until I saw my human geography teacher sit in complete silence when the late bell sounded on the third Monday of 2018. Students were still trickling into the classroom, but their lingering conversations and lack of punctuality did not elicit even a turn of the head. When someone finally asked if he was okay, he replied, “Yeah, sorry. Just got the news about Dolores.” Dolores? Was she a family member? A close friend? I came to learn that she might as well have been – not only for my teacher but for people across the nation. As I get older, I’m learning that her legacy is like a friend for me, too.
To younger people, Dolores O’Riordan might not have been associated with more than the titles “Dreams” or “Linger” or “Zombie” — songs that they heard in the car on the way to school or on CDs their parents would pop into the radio. That was the case for me, anyway. But to many, O’Riordan was an Irish icon, a mouthpiece for mental health advocacy and simply a treasure to the music world. A rare unifying force in a world so divided, her mezzo-soprano voice and distinctive yodel made anyone perk up and say out loud, “Oh, is this The Cranberries?” And they were never wrong.
They were unique as they were talented, and the world was not hesitant to embrace the band. Their debut album, “Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We?” went quintuple-platinum, and even greater success followed when their second album “No Need To Argue” sold 17 million copies worldwide. They went on to create several more highly-acclaimed records: “To The Faithful Departed,” “Bury The Hatchet,” “Wake Up And Smell The Coffee,” “Roses,” and “Something Else.” Their final album, “In The End,” was released in April 2019, and Ferg Lawler (drums), Mike Hogan (bass guitar) and Noel Hogan (electric guitar) decided that they would not continue as a band since they could no longer record with O’Riordan.
To me, it wasn’t the numbers that qualified the band’s success, but the ways in which they were able to touch the hearts of their listeners. It’s a hard thing not to be moved by the sensitive subjects carried by O’Riordan’s lilting voice. The Cranberries’ songs range from witnessing bombings in England to grieving a breakup; from leaving your loved ones in the name of your calling to wrestling with a sense of self. O’Riordan embodied the spirit of 90s rock throughout her career but never without her Limerick touch, which made her so special in the eyes of many.
And the world is nowhere near done celebrating her. In an early-2000s Bravo! interview (“In The Mind Of Dolores O’Riordan”) she was asked what she’d like to be reincarnated as, and after a moment of thought, she answered gently, “I guess if I came back as a thing it would be a flying object. I’d like to fly; I think everybody’d like to fly. So maybe a butterfly or a bird.”
I imagine that whenever fans encounter either of the two, they smile and think of O’Riordan.
If you’re looking to delve further into The Cranberries’ discography, here are my top 10 songs:
10. “A Place I Know“
9. “Just My Imagination”
8. “Shattered”
7. “The Glory”
6. “Twenty One“
5. “Roses“
4. “Linger“
3. “Tomorrow“
2. “When You’re Gone“
1. “Ode To My Family“