Biography Wikipedia
Wikipedia:
Dolores Mary Eileen O'Riordan (/oʊˈɪərən/) (born 6 September 1971) is an Irish singer, guitarist and songwriter. She led the rock band The Cranberries to worldwide success and fame for 13 years before the band took a hiatus in 2003, but have since reunited in 2012. Her first solo album Are You Listening? was released in May 2007 and was followed up by No Baggage in 2009. O'Riordan is notable for her unmistakable lilting voice and strong Irish accent.
Early life
Dolores O'Riordan was born and brought up in the Ballybricken area of Limerick City, Ireland. She was born to parents Terence and Eileen O'Riordan and was the youngest of seven children. She was raised as a Roman Catholic. She attended Laurel Hill Coláiste FCJ in South Circular Road, Limerick.
Career
1989–2003; 2009–present: The Cranberries
In 1990 O'Riordan auditioned and won the role of lead singer for a band called The Cranberry Saw Us (later changed to The Cranberries).
The band released five albums: 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) and a greatest-hits compilation entitled Stars - The Best of 1992 - 2002 (2002), before they went on hiatus in 2003.
Throughout the '90s, O'Riordan was recognized for her changing hairstyles, from shoulder-length to very short crop in myriad colors and shades. She usually performs barefoot on stage.
On August 25, 2009, while promoting her solo album No Baggage in New York City on 101.9 RXP radio, O'Riordan announced the reunion of The Cranberries for a world tour. The tour began in North America in mid November, followed by South America in mid January 2010 and Europe in March 2010. Also touring with the original members of The Cranberries, was musician Denny DeMarchi who played the keyboard for O'Riordan's solo albums. The band played songs from O'Riordan's solo albums, many of The Cranberries' classics, as well as new songs the band had been working on. On June 9, 2010 The Cranberries performed at the Special Olympics opening ceremony at Thomand Park in Limerick. This was the first time the band had performed in their native city in over fifteen years.
2003–present: Solo career
It has been said that in 2003 O'Riordan was to feature on the soundtrack to Spider-Man 2 with the song "Black Widow", which is featured on her first solo album Are You Listening?. However, she dismissed this as an unfounded Internet rumor during an interview in 2007. In 2004 O'Riordan appeared with the Italian artist Zucchero on the album Zu & Co., with the song "Pure Love". The album also featured other artists such as Sting, Sheryl Crow, Luciano Pavarotti, Miles Davis, John Lee Hooker, Macy Gray and Eric Clapton. The same year she worked with composer Angelo Badalamenti on the Evilenko soundtrack, providing vocals on several tracks, including "Angels Go The Heaven", the movie theme.
In 2005, she appeared on the Jam & Spoon's album Tripomatic Fairytales 3003 as a guest vocalist on the track "Mirror Lover". O'Riordan also made a cameo appearance in the Adam Sandler comedy Click, released on 23 June 2006, as a wedding singer performing an alternate version of The Cranberries' song "Linger", set to strings.
The first single, “Ordinary Day”, was produced by BRIT Awards winner, Youth, whose previous credits include The Verve, Embrace, Primal Scream, U2 and Paul McCartney.
O'Riordan made an appearance live on the The Late Late Show (Irish television) on 20 April 2007.
Are You Listening? was released on 4 May 2007 in the Republic of Ireland. It was subsequently released in Europe on 7 May 2007, and in North America on 15 May 2007, with "Ordinary Day" as its first single, released in late April. The video for "Ordinary Day" was shot in Prague. In August "When We Were Young" was released as the second single lifted from the album.
On 19 November 2007, she canceled the remainder of her European Tour (Lille, Paris, Luxembourg, Warsaw and Prague) due to illness. O'Riordan went on to perform a few small American club gigs in December, including Des Moines, Nashville, and a well-received free show in Charlottesville, Virginia. On the last day of 2008, it was announced on her official website that her second album, No Baggage, featuring eleven tracks, would be released on 24 August 2009.
Band members for O'Riordan's solo albums and 2007 solo world tour:
Dolores O'Riordan – vocalsSteve DeMarchi – lead guitar, backing vocalsDenny DeMarchi – keyboards, guitars, flute, wind instruments, backing vocalsGraham Hopkins – drums, percussion, backing vocalsMarco Mendoza – bass guitar, backing vocalsO'Riordan is set to make her acting debut in the upcoming David Grieco film, Secrets of Love. Principal photography was set to begin in 2010. "Secrets of Love is a story about obsession, concerning the mysterious murder of singer Sarah Blisset (played by O'Riordan).
Personal life
On 18 July 1994, O'Riordan married Don Burton, the former tour manager of Duran Duran. Their first child, Taylor Baxter, was born on 23 November. Molly Leigh was born on 27 January 2001, and Dakota Rain on 10 April 2005.
In 1998, she bought a 61 hectare (150 acre) stud farm, called Riversfield Stud, located in Kilmallock, County Limerick. She lived there for six years before selling it in 2004.
In 2006, O'Riordan was listed among the ten richest women in Ireland.
O'Riordan lived in Howth, County Dublin with her husband and their three children. The family once divided their time between homes in Dublin and a log cabin located in Buckhorn, Ontario, Canada that was bought in 1994. In 2009, her family moved full time to their home in Buckhorn.
Although raised as a Roman Catholic, O'Riordan no longer practices. She identifies as an unconventional (but still religious) Christian. She is also an admirer of the late Pope John Paul II. After meeting him inside Vatican City, O'Riordan remarked: "[He] was lovely, very saintly. I was mad about him. I thought he really cared for the poor and he loved to meet the people. I saw him when he came to Limerick, when I was a kid. So it was pretty mindblowing to take my mum out to meet him."
O'Riordan has also stated that she is pro-life, saying:"I am in no position to judge other women, you know. But I mean, why did she get pregnant? It's not good for women to go through the procedure [abortion] and have something living sucked out of their bodies. It belittles women. Even though some women say, 'Oh, I don't mind to have one,' every time a woman has an abortion, it just crushes her self-esteem smaller and smaller and smaller."
