The Cranberries' first band biography is about to be released

Limerick rock icons' career is covered from the very beginning in Why Can't We?, with decades of pictures and interviews from the Hot Press archives

Thu, 05 Aug, 2021 - 14:45

Mike McGrath Bryan

It's being claimed as the first "career-covering book" about The Cranberries, and Why Can't We? helps cement the legacy of the high-flying Limerick band.

The group's surviving members have given a helping hand in the creation of the book, partly as a tribute to their friend and frontwoman Dolores O'Riordan, who passed away in 2018.

Why Can't We? chronicles the rise of the band that started out as The Cranberry Saw Us, the recording of the demo tape that started a record-label bidding war, as well as the international heights scaled by the band in the wake of beloved singles like Dream, Linger and Zombie.

Some of the images in the new Cranberries book, Why Can't We?

The book draws heavily from the archives of Irish rock mag Hot Press, with whom the band had a long-running relationship via veteran contributor Stuart Clark. The magazine will also be handling the publishing duties on the book.

Speaking on the launch of the book's pre-sale, Cranberries guitarist Noel Hogan said:

“Stuart Clark wrote the first press release that we ever did, as The Cranberry Saw Us, so it will be great to see his name on what promises to be an absolutely brilliant, blow-by-blow account of the incredible adventure we embarked on, all those years ago.

"We’ve always had a fantastic relationship with Hot Press, so I think fans are going to really relish re-living all of the highs, as well as the sadness and the pain, as told through the pages of the magazine.”

The book will be available in two versions with various extras, including a deluxe edition signed by the band's surviving members, as well as Dolores O'Riordan's mother Eileen.

“I think she would be delighted with it," remarked Eileen.