Dolores O'Riordan

Dolores Mary Eileen O'Riordan (/oʊˈrɪərdən/; 6 September 1971 – 15 January 2018) was an Irish musician, singer and songwriter. She was the vocalist for rock band The Cranberries from 1990 until they disbanded in 2003, later reuniting with her band in 2009, which she led until her death in 2018. Her death caused the Cranberries to disband again.

Personal life Raised Catholic, O'Riordan was an admirer of Pope John Paul II, whom she met twice, in 2001 and 2002. She performed at the invitation of Pope Francis in 2013 at the Vatican's annual Christmas concert.

In November 2014, O'Riordan was arrested and charged in connection with air rage on an Aer Lingus flight from New York to Shannon. During the flight, she grew verbally and physically abusive to the crew. When police were arresting her, she resisted, reminding them that her taxes paid their wages and shouting "I'm the Queen of Limerick! I'm an icon!", headbutting one Garda officer and spitting at another. Later she told the media that she had been stressed from living in New York hotels following the end of her 20-year marriage. The judge hearing her case agreed to dismiss all charges if she apologised in writing to her victims and contributed €6,000 to the court poor box.

In May 2017, she publicly discussed her bipolar disorder, which she said had been diagnosed two years earlier. That same month, the Cranberries cited her back problems as the reason for cancelling the second part of the group's European tour. In late 2017, O'Riordan said she was recovering and performed at a private event. Her final public performance was on 14 December 2017 in New York at a holiday party for Billboard-Hollywood Reporter Media Group. With 90s cover band act Saved by the 90's, she sang "Ode to my Family", "Linger" and "Zombie".

Death On 15 January 2018, O'Riordan was found unresponsive at the London Hilton on Park Lane hotel in Mayfair. She was pronounced dead later that same morning. The cause of death was not immediately made public, but an inquest held on 6 September ruled that she died as a result of accidental drowning in a bathtub, following sedation by alcohol intoxication. Empty bottles were found in O'Riordan's room (five miniature bottles and a champagne bottle) as well as some prescription drugs, but toxicology tests showed that her body contained only "therapeutic" amounts of these medications but 330 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood, a blood alcohol content of 0.33%.

Funeral plans included a service reserved for extended family and close friends. A three-day memorial in her hometown, with O'Riordan lying in repose, lasted from 20 to 22 January at St Joseph's church. O'Riordan's songs were played, while photographs of the singer performing and one of her with Pope John Paul II were placed along the walls.

She was buried on 23 January after a service at Saint Ailbe's Roman Catholic Church, Ballybricken, County Limerick; it began with the studio recording of "Ave Maria" as sung by O'Riordan and Luciano Pavarotti. At the end of the service the Cranberries' song "When You're Gone" was played. Among the attendees at her funeral were her mother, Eileen; her three children, Taylor, Molly, and Dakota and their father, O'Riordan's former husband, Don Burton; her sister, Angela, and brothers Terence, Brendan, Donal, Joseph, and PJ; Cranberries members Noel Hogan, Mike Hogan, and Fergal Lawler; former rugby union player Ronan O'Gara, and her boyfriend Olé Koretsky. O'Riordan was buried alongside her father.