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Dolores O'Riordan
Background information
Birth name	Dolores Mary Eileen O'Riordan
Born	6 September 1971 (1971-09-06) (age 37) Limerick, Ireland
Genre(s)	Alternative rock Indie Indie pop Post-grunge Celtic rock
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter
Instrument(s)	Vocal, Guitar, Keyboards, Piccolo
Years active	1989-present
Label(s)	Sanctuary Records
Associated acts	The Cranberries
Website	Doloresoriordan.ie

Dolores Mary Eileen O'Riordan (Burton) (born 6 September 1971) is an Irish singer and songwriter. She led The Cranberries to worldwide success and fame for 13 years before the band took a hiatus in 2003. Her first solo album Are You Listening? was released in May 2007.

Early life

Dolores O'Riordan was the youngest of seven in Ballybricken, Limerick, Ireland. She was born into a Catholic family,¹ but doesn't go to church.²

Career

1989-2003: The Cranberries

Main article: The Cranberries

In 1990 Dolores 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.

Throughout the '90s, Dolores was recognized for her constantly changing hairstyles, from shoulder-length to very short crop in myriad colors and shades. She usually performs barefoot on stage.

2003-present: Solo career

In 2003 Dolores was to feature on the soundtrack to Spider-Man 2 with the song "Black Widow," but the song was eventually not used; the track appears on her first solo album, Are You Listening? instead. In 2004 Dolores 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.

Dolores 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.³⁴

On 19 November 2007 she canceled the remainder of her European Tour (Lille, Paris, Luxembourg, Warsaw and Prague) due to illness. On her official website she wrote this apology message:

Dolores 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.⁶

Dolores is set to make her acting debut in the upcoming David Grieco film, Secrets of Love. Principal photography is set to begin spring 2009. "Secrets of Love is a story about obsession; an obsession concerning the mysterious murder of singer Sarah Blisset (played by Dolores)", "Sarah was beautiful, really special. She was a dream, a myth, an icon... Adored and desired by everyone, people carried on listening to her songs. No one could forget her because, of course, true stars never die..."⁷

Personal life

On 18 July 1994, Dolores married Don Burton, the former tour manager of Duran Duran. They had their first child, Taylor Baxter, on 23 November 1997, born during the break between the release of To the Faithful Departed and Bury the Hatchet. Their second child, Molly Leigh, was born on 27 January 2001. Their third, Dakota Rain, was born on 10 April 2005.

She was unsuccessfully sued by a former nanny, Joy Fahy, in 2004 for breach of contract.

Dolores made the 2006 Top 10 list of richest women in Ireland.⁸

Dolores lives in Howth, County Dublin with her husband and their four children (one is from a previous relationship of Burton's). She also has a log cabin in Ontario, Canada, a holiday villa in Benissa, Spain and a 61 hectares (150 acres) stud farm, called Riversfield Stud, located in Kilmallock, County Limerick. She has owned it since 1998.

Discography

Studio albums

The Cranberries

• 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)

Solo

• Are You Listening? (2007)
• [Untitled] (TBA 2009)

Other appearances

• Moose "Soon Is Never Soon Enough" (1992) (backing vocals)
• Touch of Oliver "Carousel" (1993) (backing vocals)
• Jah Wobble "The Sun Does Rise" (1994) (duet)
• "God Be With You" on The Devil's Own soundtrack (1997) (solo track)
• "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll" (various artists benefit single for A Children's Promise, Rolling Stones cover) (1999) (vocals)
• "Ave Maria" on Songs Inspired by the Passion of the Christ (2004) (solo track)
• "Angels Go To Heaven" & "The Woodstrip/There's No Way Out" (composed by Angelo Badalamenti) on Evilenko soundtrack (2004) (vocals)
• Zucchero "Pure Love" (2004) (duet)
• Jam & Spoon "Mirror Lover" (2005) (vocals)
• Angelo Badalamenti "The Butterfly" (2006) (vocals)
• Movie, "Click," dir. by Frank Coraci starring Adam Sandler. "Linger," lounge version; appeared as the singer for the band during the son's wedding reception scene (2006)
• Giuliano Sangiorgi "Senza Fiato" (2007) (duet)
• "Centipede Sisters" on Roll Play 2 digital soundtrack (2008)

References

External links

• Official Website
• Cranberries Fansite
• FANBERRIES.COM :: The Cranberries & Proyectos Alternos
• Dolores O'Riordan Fan-Site
• First site of Dolores O'Riordan Solo work
• The Cranberries In Your Head
• The Cranberries Best Hits
• Official Myspace
• 4Ever Dolores O'Riordan & The Cranberries
• Dolores O'Riordan at the Internet Movie Database
• Gay Wired interview with Dolores O'Riordan
• Dolores interview by Rob Townsend