The Cranberries released “Zombie” as a single from their 1994 album No Need to Argue. The band’s late frontwoman Dolores O’Riordan wrote the song about The Troubles in Northern Ireland. However, it has become a staple at Irish rugby matches and a favorite among alt-rock fans over the years. Recently, it hit a massive milestone after garnering 1 billion streams on Spotify.
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The remaining members of The Cranberries took to social media to celebrate the achievement. “We’re thrilled to hear that ‘Zombie’ has just exceeded a billion streams on [Spotify],” the band wrote in the post. They went on to share how O’Riordan would have felt about the milestone. “Dolores would have been over the moon! Thanks to all our fans for your incredible support.”
Spotify first compiled its Billions playlist in 2020. It groups together all of the songs to reach more than one billion streams. Currently, there are only 486 songs on Spotify’s Billions Club playlist. “Zombie” now sits alongside classic songs like “Sweet Home Alabama,” “Have You Ever Seen the Rain,” “Fortunate Son,” “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” and many more. The list contains songs from Lady Gaga, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Lil Nas X, R.E.M., and The Beatles, to name a few. In short, The Cranberries are in good company here.
Sadly, O’Riordan didn’t live to see the poignant song she wrote reach this milestone. The singer/songwriter tragically passed away in 2018.
The Troubles were a violent conflict in Northern Ireland that ran from the late ‘60s through the late ‘90s. In short, it was a struggle between protestant Irish people who wanted the country to remain under British control and Catholics who wanted Ireland to be a sovereign nation. Bombings, guerilla warfare, and the loss of innocent lives were major features of the sectarian conflict.
O’Riordan drew inspiration from The Troubles to write The Cranberries’ enduring hit. More specifically, a bombing in London that killed two children on Mother’s Day inspired her to write the song. “There were a lot of bombs going off in London and I remember this one time a child was killed when a bomb was put in a rubbish bin — that’s why there’s that line in the song, A child is slowly taken,” the songwriter recalled in a 2017 interview.
She added that they were on a tour bus near the location of the explosion when it happened. As a result, that incident stuck with her and inspired the angry song that went on to be a huge hit.
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