Born September 6, 1971, in Limerick, Ireland, Dolores O’Riordan earned fame and fortune as the frontwoman for the ’90s Irish rock band, The Cranberries. With hits like “Linger” and “Zombie” to their credit, the Cranberries were one of the biggest bands of the 1990s, with songs blasting on the radio and MTV seemingly non-stop.
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Sadly, though, O’Riordan passed away, drowning on January 15, 2018, at the age of 46. But with such a full life to that point and with so much creative success, one might wonder what O’Riordan had to say about life, her craft, and the world she lived in.
Here are the 20 Best Dolores O’Riordan quotes.
1. “I didn’t get a lot of attention from my dad when I was young. That’s a big part of it for girls. Because your dad is the first love of your life. If he doesn’t put you on his lap and give you a pet, you do end up not really liking yourself that much.”
2. “Growing up, there was a lot of pressure for women to be good-looking, but my mum was very strict, and she didn’t allow me to wear make-up. Looking back, it was good for me. It slowed me down from becoming an adult too quickly.”
3. “When I got pregnant, I started singing again. It was my saving grace. I literally mean having this amazing human life, and our relationship in the sense of mother and child redeemed my soul.”
4. “When you’re pregnant or living with an infant, there’s a kind of sacredness around your body that affects everything you do.”
5. “When you’re on tour too much or on stage too much, you feel like you have to deliver and get this super-hyped vibe going.”
6. “I was at that point where my children needed more than going around the planet in the back of a bus. They needed stability, they needed to build their own lives and relationships, and I needed to put my life on hold. I made my choice—I chose my children.”
7. “I went very close to the edge, but it’s nice to have been strong enough to get through it. I’m lucky I had family, a good husband, and my mom. People like that help balance you. When you’re feeling down and bad, it’s the people that love you who kind of sort your head out for you.”
8. “I love performing, and I love the idea of people buying records. I don’t particularly like the idea of people knowing me or thinking they do, but that’s a part of what I choose. I choose not to go to college; I choose to be a singer.”
9. “I got to a point where I referred to myself as Dolores of the Cranberries instead of myself because I alienated my real self from what I became so much.”
10. “My mom always had a softer spot for boys, as a lot of Irish women do. If you were a girl, you’d have to sing or wear a pretty dress. But boys could just sit there and be brilliant for sitting there and being boys. It makes you that little bit more forward. Pushy. I was singing, always.”
11. “People look at you and see a product. They don’t see a soul. They see an empty hole.”
12. “When the band was really big and we had massive hits, I was always stressed out and insecure. I thought I wanted the band to be really popular, but when that happened, there was so much pressure to keep it going.”
13. “I remember when MTV first put ‘Linger’ in heavy rotation, every time I walked into a diner or a hotel lobby, it was like, ‘Jesus, man, here I am again.'”
14. “We were never a frivolous band; we prided ourselves on having something to say, and I think that’s what gives your songs longevity.”
15. “As you get older, it’s good to open up and acknowledge that everybody has their scary moments, their negative moments. And in order to move on and find comfort and hope, you have to stop running from the darkness and face it. And when you face it, it’s not that scary at all, and sometimes it actually turns around and runs away.”
16. “It’s pretty weird when you are just touring all the time and you don’t have a normal life. You’re out of touch with reality too much.”
17. “I guess the way to keep a grip on reality is just to take breaks in between albums like most normal bands do. Go home and be a person and hang out with your friends. Do separate things and get back to earth and write songs and go out there again.”
18. “Not everybody wanted a female to be the front face of a big band, you know… You had to be three times better than a man had to be.”
19. “I thought the best thing to do to bring me back to reality would be to have a child, and by the time I had my first, Taylor, when I was 25, we’d sold 35 million records as a band, and I’d had enough; I knew my sanity was more important than success.”
20. “I try to think about optimism. I try to look at the beautiful things in life.”
Photo by Barbara Zanon/WireImage
