The Cranberries

The Cranberries are an Irish ^{Republic of Ireland} rock ^{Rock music} band formed in Limerick in 1989 under the name The Cranberry Saw Us, later changed by vocalist Dolores O'Riordan.

The Cranberries rose to international fame in the 1990s with their debut album, Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We?, which became a high commercial success and sold over five million copies in the United States. The group was one of the most successful rock acts of the '90s and sold over 14.5 million albums in the United States alone. The band has achieved four top 20 albums on the Billboard 200 ^{Billboard 200} chart (Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We?; No Need To Argue; To the Faithful Departed and Bury the Hatchet) and eight top 20 singles on the Modern Rock Tracks ^{Alternative Songs} chart ("Linger ^{Linger (song)} ", "Dreams ^{Dreams (The Cranberries song)} ", "Zombie ^{Zombie (song)} ", "Ode to My Family", "Ridiculous Thoughts", "Salvation ^{Salvation (The Cranberries song)} ", "Free To Decide" and "Promises").

 
Origins: 1989–1991

Noel and Mike Hogan, two brothers from Limerick formed the band with drummer Fergal Lawler in 1990. The band was originally named The Cranberry Saw Us.
A cover version of "Dreams" performed by Faye Wong is also used as part of the soundtrack to director Wong Kar Wai's 1994 movie Chungking Express.
O'Riordan married the band's tour manager, Don Burton, in July, 1994. The marriage, as well as the group's videos, emphasised the singer as the focal point of the band . O'Riordan's position in the group continued to rise with the fall release of the group's second album, No Need to Argue. Boasting a slightly harder, more streamlined sound, yet still produced by Stephen Street, the record debuted at number six on the US charts and eventually outsold its predecessor; within a year it went triple platinum, spawning the number one hit "Zombie ^{Zombie (song)} " and the number 11 "Ode to My Family" on the Modern Rock Tracks ^{Alternative Songs} chart.


Middle era: 1996–2000

The band's heavier third album, To the Faithful Departed, failed to garner the same reception as its predecessors. On its spring release, the album entered the charts, peaking at number 2 on the UK Album Chart and number 4 on the Billboard 200. Despite favorable reviews, the album did not match the sales of No Need to Argue. The album only went double platinum in the US and Gold in the UK, which was its two predecessors' which was certified seven times platinum. The first single from the album was "Salvation ^{Salvation (The Cranberries song)} " which peaked at number one on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. The third and fourth singles were "Just My Imagination" and "You & Me", respectively.
The group started a world tour in April 1999 and it finished in July 2000. It was the biggest and most successful tour of the Cranberries' career.
The tour brought them back to Ireland for their first date since May 2000. They performed at Millstreet in County Cork. As the tour rolled on, the band released Bury The Hatchet - The Complete Sessions, a double CD featuring B-sides as well as live tracks taken from a live show in Paris.


Later years: 2001–200
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In October 2001, the album Wake Up and Smell the Coffee was released. The band's old producer, Stephen Street, had returned and produced their new music video. The album peaked at 46 on the Billboard 200. the Cranberries announced they were taking some time to pursue individual careers.


Hiatus and solo careers: 2004–2008

Since 2004 Dolores O'Riordan has been collaborating on a number of musical projects, before launching her solo career with the album Are You Listening? in 2007.
Noel Hogan started a new project called Mono Band, whose first full-length self-titled album saw a limited release in 2005. He went on to form Arkitekt with singer-songwriter Richard Walters. Fergal Lawler was a member of The Low Network, whose first album was released in 2007. He has also worked with Walter Mitty and the Realists as well as The Last Days Of Death Country as both producer and musician.


Reunion: 2009–present

As described in their official website, The Cranberries reunited in January 2009 "to celebrate Dolores becoming an Honorary Patron of University Philosophical Society (Trinity College, Dublin)". While the group indicated at the time that this did not signify an official reunion, things seem to have changed.

On August 25, 2009 in anticipation of the release of Dolores' second solo album, No Baggage, Dolores O'Riordan announced that the Cranberries would be reuniting for a North American tour to begin in November 2009, followed by dates in Europe in early 2010. O'Riordan indicated that the band would be playing songs from her solo albums and a lot of The Cranberries classic hits as well as some new group compositions. Denny DeMarchi who played the keyboard, guitar and sang backing vocals on O'Riordan's solo albums would also be touring with them.*Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We? (1993)
*No Need to Argue (1994)
*To the Faithful Departed (1996)
*Bury the Hatchet ^{Bury the Hatchet (album)} (1999)
*Wake Up and Smell the Coffee (2001)