Dolores O’Riordan: Fates exact a very heavy price

Dolores O’Riordan was a loved, vibrant, passionate and inspiring artist. Her utterly premature and unexpected death is terribly sad and a tragedy for her family, especially her three children.

Dolores O’Riordan was a loved, vibrant, passionate and inspiring artist.

Her utterly premature and unexpected death is terribly sad and a tragedy for her family, especially her three children.

That Scotland Yard has confirmed that her death, at the Hilton in Park Lane, London, on Monday morning, is not being treated as suspicious may deepen their hurt.

The Cranberries’ rapid rise to the pinnacle of their world — they sold over 40m records — ironically fed O’Riordan’s “terrible self-loathing”, which led to anorexia and an eventual breakdown.

A suicide attempt in 2013 was followed by a diagnosis of bipolar disorder.

O’Riordan’s great success came at an inescapable price.

The Cranberries’ second album, the 1994 No Need To Argue, sold 17m copies, but made her so recognisable that, to her unending distress, it confined her to hotel rooms.

‘Zombie’ — an unblinking criticism of the 1993 IRA bombing in Warrington — was so often played on MTV that her fame grew relentlessly, increasing her isolation.

The fates took far more than a pound of flesh to discharge the great gifts, especially her steely voice, they bestowed.

O’Riordan’s terribly sad story is remarkable because of the stage it played out on, because her difficulties, her vulnerabilities, were so very public.

Maybe the best way to remember and honour her is to be more alert to those all around us who fight the very same demons, but who do so alone.

May she find the peace she could not find in this world.