Dolores O'Riordan

Her father, Terence Patrick "Terry" O'Riordan (1937–2011), worked as a farm labourer until a motorbike accident in 1968 left him brain damaged.

Her mother, Eileen ( Greensmith), was a school caterer.

O'Riordan was raised in a devout Roman Catholic family, and was named by her mother in reference to the Lady of the Seven Dolours.

She grew up in the neighboring Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly.

O'Riordan was singing before she could talk.

When she was five years of age, the principal of her school took her into the sixth class, sat her on the teacher's desk, and told her to sing for the twelve-year-old students in the class.

She started with traditional Irish music and playing the Irish tin whistle when she went to school.

When she was seven years old, her sister accidentally burned the house down; the rural community was able to raise funds to purchase the family a new homestead.

O'Riordan's formative experiences were as a liturgical soloist in the choir in a local church and as a singer at school.

From the age of eight, she was sexually abused for four years by a person whom she trusted.

At the age of ten, she would sing in local pubs where her uncles took her.

O'Riordan attended Laurel Hill Coláiste FCJ school in Limerick.

School principal Aedín Ní Bhriain said in the Limerick Post about O'Riordan's first day at Laurel Hill Coláiste at the age of twelve that she stood up in front of classmates and announced: "my name is Dolores O'Riordan and I'm going to be a rock star", then she stood on her chair and she sang "Tra la la la la, Triangles".

According to her school friend Catherina Egan, she was "boisterous, wild, but lovely".

She regularly played the spoons and the bodhrán.

At the age of twelve, O'Riordan began piano lessons, and then later, achieved Grade 4 in Practical and Grade 8 in Theory.

She sat every day at the piano in the main hall to play, then her classmates sat around her after having lunch to listen to her sing.

At age seventeen, she learned to play the guitar and performed a solo gig in Laurel Hill Coláiste secondary school.

Dolores Mary Eileen O'Riordan (6 September 1971 – 15 January 2018) was an Irish singer, musician and songwriter.

She was the lead vocalist and lyricist of alternative rock band The Cranberries.

Dolores Mary Eileen O'Riordan was born on 6 September 1971 in Ballybricken in County Limerick, Ireland, the youngest of nine children, two of whom died in infancy.

One of the most recognizable voices in rock in the 1990s, she was known for her lilting mezzo-soprano voice, signature yodel, emphasized use of keening, and strong Limerick accent.

O'Riordan was born in County Limerick, Ireland, to a Catholic working-class family.

She began to perform as a soloist in her church choir before leaving secondary school to join the Cranberries in 1990.

Recognised for her unique voice, she quickly achieved worldwide fame.

During her lifetime, she released seven studio albums with the Cranberries, including four number-one albums.

Over the years, she contributed to the release of 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) before taking a six-year hiatus starting in 2003.

O'Riordan's first solo album, Are You Listening?, was released in May 2007 and was followed up by No Baggage in August 2009.

She reunited with the Cranberries the same year.

The band released Roses (2012) and went on a world tour.

She appeared as a judge on RTÉ's The Voice of Ireland during the 2013–14 season.

In April 2014, O'Riordan joined and began recording new material with the trio D.A.R.K. Throughout her life, she had to overcome personal challenges.

O'Riordan struggled with depression and the pressure of her own success, and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2015.

She subsequently released her last album with the group, Something Else (2017).

O'Riordan died from drowning due to alcohol intoxication in January 2018.

The following year, the Cranberries released the Grammy-nominated album In the End (2019), featuring her final vocal recordings, and subsequently disbanded.

With the Cranberries, O'Riordan sold more than 40 million albums worldwide during her lifetime; that total increased to almost 50 million albums worldwide as of 2019, excluding her solo albums.

In the US, she was awarded 14 Platinum album certifications by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and in Canada, 10 Platinum certifications.

In the UK, she received five Platinum certifications.

She was honoured with the Ivor Novello International Achievement award, and in the months following her death, she was named "The Top Female Artist of All Time" on Billboard's Alternative Songs chart.