Irish singer-songwriter Dolores O'Riordan has passed away suddenly at the age of 46, the BBC reports. Her cause of death has yet to be revealed. O'Riordan led her band the Cranberries to international popularity in the Nineties with singles including "Zombie," an incendiary protest song about the bombings in Northern Ireland that was heavy enough, both lyrically and musically, to be embraced by metalheads around the world.
She also embarked on a successful solo career and, most recently, released the 2016 debut album, Science Agrees, by D.A.R.K., her project the Smith's Andy Rourke.
O'Riordan's publicist confirmed the news in a statement: "Irish and international singer Dolores O'Riordan has died suddenly in London today. She was 46 years old. The lead singer with the Irish band The Cranberries was in London for a short recording session."
It added, "No further details are available at this time. Family members are devastated to hear the breaking news and have requested privacy at this very difficult time."
The Irish Times notes that the Cranberries canceled tour dates in 2017 due to the singer's health, citing "medical reasons associated with a back problem." O'Riordan had previously been diagnosed as bi-polar.
UPDATE: O'Riordan died just hours before she was slated to hit the studio with Bad Wolves — the hard-rock group featuring ex-members of Divine Heresy, God Forbid and others — to record vocals for their cover version of the Cranberries' "Zombie," according to the band's frontman Tommy Vext.
"We are shocked and saddened at the news of Dolores's passing, mere hours before she was to record vocals on our upcoming version of Zombie," Vext wrote in a Facebook post late last night. "We have always had deep respect for her as an artist and a vocalist and she was never afraid to bare her soul in her music and lyrics.
"'Zombie' is an incredibly personal song and although we are a hard rock band, we always felt the rawness and honesty she projected on stage and in her recordings was something to which all bands should aspire to, regardless of genre. When we heard she liked our version and wanted to sing on it, it was the greatest compliment a new band, or any band for that matter, could have received.
Our hearts are broken that we were not able to see this collaboration through and our deepest condolences go out to her family, friends, loved ones and fans in Ireland and around the globe. We hope we can still make her proud by sharing our version of Zombie with the world," he concluded.
