The Cranberries have announced they are releasing two new records featuring Dolores O’Riordan’s vocals, following her sudden death in January.
Band members Noel and Mike Hogan and Fergal Lawler said on Thursday that they will release a 25th anniversary edition of their first album, as well as new material later this year, in honour of the late singer.
Dolores, who fronted The Cranberries from 1990, was found dead in a London hotel on 15 January, aged 46.
RIP: The Cranberries have announced they are releasing two new records featuring Dolores O’Riordan’s vocals, following her sudden death in January (pictured in May 2017)
The band had been working on a revamped edition of their iconic record Everybody Else Is Doing it So Why Can’t We, to mark 25 years since its release – but they had put the project ‘on hold’ due to the tragedy.
However, in a statement given on their website, the remaining band members confirmed their plans to ‘push ahead’ and release the music, in Dolores’ honour.
They wrote: ‘Since last summer the band had been working with Universal Music on the creation of a very special 25th anniversary edition of the album – a newly remastered version with previously unreleased material of ours as well as other bonus material from the era of our debut album.
‘We had planned to release this special edition this month to coincide with the 25th anniversary. However, given Dolores’ passing in January we put the entire project on hold.’
Battling on: Noel and Mike Hogan and Fergal Lawler said they will release a 25th anniversary edition of their first album, Everybody Else Is Doing it So Why Can’t We, later this year
Revealing they feel the record would be a fitting tribute to their late friend, they went on: ‘We thought about it and decided that as this is something that we started as a band, with Dolores, we should push ahead a finish it.
‘So that’s the plan, to finish the project and get the special 25th anniversary edition album out later this year.’
The musicians also confirmed they will be releasing a brand new studio album in 2019 – which Dolores had already recorded the vocals for, prior to her death.
The group added to their fans: ‘All going well we hope to have this new album finished and out early next year. We will keep you all up to date as things progress.’
Her memory lives on: The musicians also confirmed they will be releasing a brand new studio album in 2019 – which Dolores had already recorded the vocals for, prior to her death
Speaking out: The band confirmed the news on their website
Dolores had been in London to discuss plans for the new album with The Cranberries’ record label BMG, when she was found dead in her hotel room.
The singer had been recording a cover of their hit Zombie with hard rock band Bad Wolves and, hours before her death, had sounded ‘full of life’ in a voicemail, according to her friend and music producer Dan Waite.
Her funeral later took place at Saint Alibe’s Church in her hometown of Ballybricken.
Dolores suffered with bipolar disorder and depression throughout her career, and US website TMZ reported friends describing her as ‘dreadfully depressed’ in recent weeks.
She once spoke of a ‘terrible self-loathing’ which had been worsened by her accelerating career and led to anorexia. The singer also suffered with back pain, which caused her to cancel a string of shows in May last year.
The inquest into her death is still ongoing, and is expected to be completed next month.
Heartbreak: Dolores, who fronted The Cranberries from 1990, was found dead in a London hotel on 15 January, aged 46