The Cranberries guitarist Noel Hogan has spoken of the “heaviness” the band felt while completing their final album following the death of frontwoman Dolores O’Riordan.
Dolores O’Riordan passed away from accidental drowning due to alcohol intoxication in January 2018 in the middle of the recording of what was to be the Irish outfit’s farewell album.
An inquest following her death revealed that O’Riordan was found submerged in her bathtub at a London hotel, on January 15th, with toxicology results revealing that the Cranberries singer’s blood-alcohol level was four times the legal limit for driving.
Speaking of working on the final album amid O’Riordan’s sudden death, Hogan, his brother Mike, and drummer Fergal Lawler, were determined to finish the record in her honour.
“We had so much work done on it. Up until literally a day or two before Dolores passed away, we were still sending ideas across to each other,” Hogan told The Ryan Tubridy Show on RTÉ Radio 1.
“She was very excited about getting in to do this album. When you listen back you think ‘this would be a shame not to finish it, we were so close to the finish line’.”
He added, “The hard part was you were listening to Dolores every day. We had our vocals. Day one was definitely the weirdest, and the last day when you realise ‘this is the very last day the three of us as The Cranberries will play together’.
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“You felt that heaviness that day. The reaction to the album was amazing, we were nominated for a Grammy and we felt like we did the right thing.”
The Cranberries rose to prominence in the ’90s with the release of their album Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We? which contained a slew of iconic songs such as ‘Zombie’, ‘Linger’ and ‘Dreams’. The Cranberries are the second best selling Irish band behind U2.
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Check out ‘Zombie’ by The Cranberries:
