The Cranberries are an Irish rock band formed in Limerick, Ireland in 1989 by guitarist Noel Hogan, bassist Mike Hogan and drummer Fergal Lawler. Dolores O’Riordan joined the band in 1990 as their lead singer. The band classify themselves as an alternative rock group, but incorporate aspects of indie pop, post-punk, Irish folk and pop rock into their sound.
The Cranberries music has been likened to singers such as Sinead O’Connor and Siouxsie and the Banshees. The Hogan brothers cite The Cure, The Clash, Joy Division and specifically The Smiths as inspirations.
The Cranberries rose to international fame in the 1990’s with their debut album, Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We? The band has sold more than 40 million records worldwide including five top 20 albums on the Billboard 200 chart.
After a six year hiatus the band reunited for a tour and released their sixth album Roses in 2012 followed up by Something Else, an album covering earlier songs together with the Irish Chamber Orchestra for release in 2017.
On January 15, 2018 lead singer Dolores O’Riordan was found dead of drowning in a London hotel room. She had recently arrived in London for a recording session. The Cranberries confirmed that they will not be continuing as a band without O’Riordan. They will release their final album In the End in 2019.
In 1989 brothers Mike and Noel Hogan formed The Cranberry Saw Us in Limerick, Ireland. Dolores O’Riordan joined the band after responding to an advertisement seeking a female singer. Her audition included writing lyrics and melodies to some existing demos. When she returned with a rough demo of “Linger” she was hired. The band then recorded a three song EP, Nothing Left At All and changed their name to The Cranberries.
The demo earned the attention of the record industry and the group signed with Island Records. The Cranberries released their first full-length album 1993’s Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We? While the album gained little notice the band caught the attention of MTV which put their videos in rotation resulting in the hit single “Linger” propelling the albums to the top of the UK Album Chart.
The band’s second album 1994’s No Need to Argue hit the top ten on the U.S. charts and eventually outsold its predecessor going on to sell more than seven million copies in America and spawning the chart topping single “Zombie.”
In October 2001 the band released their fifth studio album Wake Up and Smell the Coffee which turned out to be their last studio album until 2012’s Roses. This was followed by the release of a greatest hits album entitled Stars – The Best of 1992-2002. By 1993 the band announced a hiatus to pursue individual careers and scrapped sessions for a sixth studio release.
In 2009 The Cranberries reunited for a tour. In 2017 the band released an acoustic album Something Else which featured orchestral arrangement of prior releases and three new songs.
With the release of the new album, the group announced a tour which was to include dates across Europe and North America. However, shortly into the European tour, The Cranberries had to cancel the remaining dates due to O’Riordan’s health.
In March 2018, the band announced they were releasing a special 25th anniversary newly remastered anniversary edition of the debut album Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We, with previously unreleased material as well as other bonus material from the time of the album.
The band also decided to complete their new album underway at the time O’Riordan died, for which she had already recorded the vocals. In January 2019, one year after O’Riordan’s death, the band released the first single from In the End, called “All Over Now.”
Reference – https://www.cranberries.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cranberries
The Cranberries discography
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)
Wake Up and Smell the Coffee (2001)
Roses (2012)
Something Else (2017)
In the End (2019)
Sacramento’s K-ZAP 93.3 FM plays The Cranberries. All part of 50 years of Rock, Blues and More, 24-7 on our station’s stream at K-ZAP.ORG/LISTEN/
Check out The Cranberries performing “All Over Now.”
Watch the Cranberries’ Powerful New Video for ‘All Over Now’