Dolores O'Riordan

Dolores O'Riordan Personal life

Dolores Eileen O'Riordan was born September 6th, 1971, the youngest of seven in Ballybricken, Limerick, Ireland. She was born into a "strict Catholic family", she was raised a Roman Catholic and has a lot of respect for the good in the Catholic Church, but she doesn't go to church. She joined The Cranberry Saw Us in 1990. The band later changed its name to The Cranberries at her request.

On July 18th, 1994 O'Riordan married Don Burton, the former tour manager of Duran Duran. They had their first child, Taylor Baxter, on November 23rd, 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 January 27th, 2001 (coincidentally the birthday of her husband Don). Their third, Dakota Rain, was born on April 10th, 2005.

She was unsuccessfully sued by a former nanny, Joy Fahy, in 2004 for breach of contract. She admits to having gone through therapy early in her career after a nervous breakdown in 1994.

O'Riordan 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 150-acre (61 ha) stud farm, called Riversfield Stud, located in Kilmallock, County Limerick. She has owned it since 1998 and intends to build a new home and stables there.

Dolores O'Riordan Career

Dolores O'Riordan 1989-2003: The Cranberries

In 1990 Dolores 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 their foreseen hiatus.

All through the '90s O'Riordan was recognized for her constantly changing hairstyles, from shoulder-length to very short crop in a myriad colors and shades. She usually performs on stage in her bare feet.

Dolores O'Riordan 2003-present: Solo career

In 2003 O'Riordan 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 O'Riordan's first solo album, Are You Listening? instead. 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 superstars 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 Adam Sandler's comedy Click, released on June 23, 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 April 20, 2007.

Are You Listening? was released on May 4, 2007 in the Republic of Ireland. It was subsequently released in Europe on May 7, 2007, and in North America on May 15, 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 Where Young" was released as the second single lifted from the album.

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

"Hello to all! Just a note to say sorry for canceling the tour, I need to rest a while as I have been traveling and touring for the better part of a year. The Doc says rest and I'll get better. I will come back in the new year. Love to you all and Happy Holidays! Sorry once again. -Dolores XX"

On January 23, 2008 on her Official website she wrote the following letter to her fans with some news about her next album:

"Hey you Guys, Hope you had a wonderful Holiday Season, Mine was lovely with the family, Santa was really good!!! Sorry it's been awhile since I wrote but I was chillin out. I began new tracks last week in Canada for the new album, sounding great and it was a blast. Thanks so much for all of your support over the years, This weekend I'm off to Cannes to perform at the EBBA awards and after that Disneyland for my Daughter Molly's 7th Birthday. Keep in touch Lot's of Love Dolores XX"