January 16, 2018
The Cranberries lead singer Dolores O'Riordan has died at the
age of 46.
The Irish musician, who was originally from Limerick, led the
band to international success in the 1990s with singles including "Linger" and
"Zombie", died suddenly, her publicist has confirmed, BBC reported on Monday.
A statement from her publicist said: "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."
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said the
police were called to a hotel in Park Lane, where "a woman in her mid-40s" was
pronounced dead at the scene.
The death is, at this stage, unexplained.
Her current band mates in The Cranberries - Noel Hogan, Fergal Lawler, and
Mike Hogan -- paid tribute to the lead singer on social media.
The
message said: "She was an extraordinary talent and we feel very privileged to
been part of her life from 1989."
Her publicist added: "Family members
are devastated to hear the news and have requested privacy at this very
difficult time."
The Cranberries shot to international fame with their
1993 debut album "Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We?" and went on to
sell over 40 million records worldwide.
In 2017 The Cranberries announced
a tour including dates in Europe, Britain, and the US. However, in May, shortly
into the European tour, the group had to cancel the remainder of the European
dates as a result of O'Riordan's health issues.
The official Cranberries
website cited "medical reasons associated with a back problem" preventing singer
O'Riordan from performing.
But just before Christmas O'Riordan had posted
on Facebook saying she was "feeling good" and had done her "first bit of gigging
in months", leading fans to believe she would soon be performing again.