INQUISITR.COM / Entertainment

Dolores O’Riordan Death ‘Treated As Unexplained’ Via Police Statement As Cranberries Singer Mourned Online

By Roz Zurko
Published on: 09:57 PST, Jan 15, 2018

Dolores O’Riordan of the Irish band The Cranberries died suddenly while recording in London, which has shocked and devasted her family today. The Cranberries formed in Limerick, Ireland, in the late 1980s and they took the world by storm with their hits including “Linger” and “Zombie” in the early 1990s.

O’Riordan’s powerful and sometimes wailing voice is described by Fox News as “key to the band’s distinctive sound.” The 46-year-old O’Riordan was the chief lyricist and co-songwriter with the band. The band split up in 2003 and reunited again to cut a mostly acoustic album last year. They were due to tour Europe and North America, but it was O’Riordan’s back pain that caused them to cut the tour short under her doctor’s orders.

The band had a unique sound, which was “an immense influence on rock and pop music in Ireland and internationally,” said the Irish President, Michael D. Higgins, in a statement he released today. He called her death a “big loss” especially for “all of those who follow and support Irish music.”

O’Riordan, who was a mother of three, was not shy about her battle in the past with depression. It was an arrest in 2014 that brought her battle with mental health into the spotlight in recent years.

She was accused of assaulting a flight attendant and three police officers during a flight from New York to Ireland. She pleaded guilty and was fined, but the medical records given to the court stated she was mentally ill at the time of the altercation, according to Fox News.

Very few details surrounding her death are available and the cause of the singer’s death has not been made public today. Police released a statement, which is seen in quotes below in the article. It gives a little more insight into where she died and how they are treating her death. O’Riordan is survived by her ex-husband, Don Burton, who is the former stage manager for the group Duran Duran. She is also survived by their three children, her 20-year-old son Taylor, 16-year-old daughter Molly, and her 12-year-old daughter Dakota. Back in May, Dolores was medically ordered to stop work, which is what the tweet below reports from The Cranberries.

Just three weeks before her sudden death today she tweeted to her fans how well she was feeling. The tweet is seen below.

https://www.facebook.com/TheCranberries/posts/10155328592472106

Police gave a statement to People Magazine regarding the death of the singer today. The statement said:

“Police in Westminster are dealing with a sudden death. Officers were called at 9:05 a.m. on Monday 15th January to a hotel in Park Lane. A woman in her mid-40s was pronounced dead at the scene. At this early stage, the death is being treated as unexplained and inquiries continue”.

Social media is saturated with global condolences and people are expressing their sadness over O’Riordan’s sudden and unexpected death today. It is her voice that is called “mesmerizing” over and over again on social media sites today. One newer fan writes on Twitter, “I remember hearing Dolores O’Riordan’s voice as a child in the 90s and being mesmerized. Then I grew up and the songs she sang were more than just beautiful music. I am heartbroken to hear about her death, but thankful the music she made still remains. #RIPDoloresORiordan.”

You can see Delores in her music video for the song “Linger” in the video at the top of the article. You can see and hear Delores in her haunting music video “Zombie” below.

Share this article: Dolores O’Riordan Death ‘Treated As Unexplained’ Via Police Statement As Cranberries Singer Mourned Online
More from Inquisitr