the cranberries

The Cranberries are an Irish rock and roll band that arose to mainstream popularity in the 1990s. They (temporarily) disbanded in 2003.

History

Origins

Noel and Mike Hogan, two brothers from Limerick City, formed the band with drummer Fergal Lawler in 1990. Dolores O'Riordan auditioned for and won the role of lead singer, writing a song called "Linger" based around the band's existing demo. The band was originally named The Cranberry Saw Us. Their homemade demo tape sold well locally, and the band soon recorded a demo tape that earned much popular and critical interest. After a major-label bidding war, The Cranberries signed with Island Records and recorded Uncertain, their debut single which was unsuccessful. After ditching their manager, the Cranberries recorded Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We?. The second single, Linger, became a huge hit in both the United Kingdom and the United States. The single Dreams also became a hit reaching #14 on the US charts.

Mid-90s

In 1994, O'Riordan married Don Burton, the band's tour manager. O'Riordan's status as frontwoman was causing tensions within the group as they recorded No Need to Argue, another hit album that included Zombie and Ode to My Family. Zombie, one of the band's most famous songs, was a protest about the violence between Protestant and Catholic extremists in Northern Ireland in the time of The Troubles http://www.cloudsmagazine.com/12/Carmen_Bujdei_The_Irish_Experience.htm. Amidst rumors of O'Riordan's imminent departure, the band released To the Faithful Departed to limited success. During the next few years, the band cancelled a large tour and rumors of a breakup were widespread, though they released Bury the Hatchet to mixed reviews in 1999. In 2001 they released Wake Up And Smell The Coffee to rave reviews. The album debuted at number 54 in the U.S. charts. The band seemed to be back on track. A "best of" compilation entitled Stars was released in 2002, along with a DVD of groundbreaking award-winning music videos. A new single, the title track off of the Stars CD, charted in Europe and Asia.

Breakup

However, in 2004, The Cranberries announced they were taking some time to pursue individual careers. Dolores went on to record a solo album (to be released in early 2006) and Noel launched into the recording of a guitar album, off which two songs were released in November 2004 on the European iTunes download service under the name Mono Band. Dolores sings the title track to the movie The Passion of the Christ, "Ave Maria".