The Cranberries
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The Cranberries are an Irish rock and roll band that arose to mainstream popularity in the 1990s. They disbanded in 2003.
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Band members
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Michael (Mike) Hogan (born April 29, 1973) is the bass guitar player.
Noel Anthony Hogan (born December 25, 1971), Mike's brother, is the guitarist.
Fergal Patrick Lawler was born in Parteen (near Limerick), Ireland on March 4 1971. Since April 16 1997 he has been married to Laurie Guerin.
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Dolores Mary Eileen O'Riordan (born September 6, 1971) is an Irish singer. She is the vocalist, keyboardist and backing guitarist for the band. She is married to Don Burton and has three children Taylor 7, Molly 4 and Dakota Rain 2 months, she also has a stepson named Donny.
History
Origins
Noel and Mike Hogan, two brothers from Limerick City, formed the band with drummer Fergal Patrick 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, the band's most famous song, was a protest about the violence between Protestant and Catholic extremists in Northern Ireland in the time of The Troubles [1] (http://www.cloudsmagazine.com/12/Carmen_Bujdei_The_Irish_Experience.htm). The album gained the band immense popularity throughout Europe and the US, and their success was an extension of the mid 1990s rise of British bands, such as Oasis, Blur, Radiohead and Placebo.
Amidst rumors of O'Riordan's imminent departure, the band released To the Faithful Departed, which sold well despite poor reviews, though not nearly as well as the previous album. 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 of "The magic is back." The album debuted at number 46 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. O'Riordan 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. O'Riordan sings the title track to the movie The Passion of the Christ, "Ave Maria" and is expected to release her first solo album early 2006.
Discography
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Singles
- Dreams (September 1992) –
- Linger (February 1993) – UK #74
- Linger (Re-Issue) (January 1994) – UK #14, US #8
- Dreams (Re-Issue) (April 1994) – UK #27, US #42
- Zombie (September 1994) – UK #14
- Ode To My Family (November 1994) – UK #29
- I Can't Be With You (February 1995) – UK #23
- Ridiculous Thoughts (July 1995) – UK #20
- Salvation (April 1996) – UK #13
- Free To Decide (July 1996) – UK #33
- Promises (April 1999) – UK #12
- Animal Instinct (July 1999) – UK #54
- Just My Imagination (October 1999) –
- You And Me (January 2000) –
- Analyze (September 2001) – UK #89
- Time Is Ticking Out (January 2002) –
- This Is The Day (April 2002) –
- Stars (September 2002) –
E.P.s
Uncertain EP (October 1991) Uncertain/Nothing Left At All/Pathetic Senses/Then
Studio Albums
- Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Canīt We? (April 1993) UK #1, US #18 (ww sales 7,000,000)
- No Need to Argue (September 1994) UK #2, US #6 (ww sales 16,000,000)
- To the Faithful Departed (April 1996) UK #2, UK #4 (ww sales 6,000,000)
- Bury the Hatchet (April 1999) UK #7, US #13 (ww sales 4,000,000)
- Wake Up and Smell the Coffee (October 2001) UK #61, US #46 (ww sales 1,500,000)
Compilations
- Bury the Hatchet - The Complete Sessions (2000) – 26 track release
- Stars - The Best of 1992 - 2002 (September 2002) – UK #20
- Treasure Box - The Complete Sessions 1992-1999 4 albums remastered
Concerts and Lives
- Doors And Windows (1995) (multimedia disk)
- In Concert at the BBC (1994) – limited UK release
- In Concert: New Rock #94-44, disc 2 of 2 (1994)
DVDs and Videos
- Children Of Bosnia
- Beneath The Skin - Live In Paris
- Stars - The Best of 1992 - 2002 (2002)
- Live - Live In Astoria (DVD)
External links
- Official Site (http://www.cranberries.com)
- Zombieguide.com (http://www.zombieguide.com)
- Zombieguide Europe (http://www.the-cranberries.de/index2.html)
- Cranstar (http://www.cranstar.net)de:The Cranberries