Sales of The Cranberries’ albums surge after O’Riordan’s death

SALES of The Cranberries’ back catalogue have surged since the shocking death of mother-of-three Dolores O’Riordan earlier this week.

Three of their albums occupied spots in the top 10 album downloads on the US iTunes charts yesterday while they also had four albums in the top 10 of the album charts.

The band enjoyed success Stateside during their heyday in the 1990s as their first album ‘Everybody Else is Doing It, So Why Can’t We?’ broke into the top 20 on its release in 1993.

But O’Riordan’s sudden death has led to a surge of interest in the Limerick band’s music.

Meanwhile, a DJ who was approached by a teenage O’Riordan with her first ever demo tape has paid tribute to the singer who, he said, never changed.

Michael McNamara, better known as DJ Mickey Mac, was an institution in Limerick for up and coming musicians.

He recalled how O’Riordan first approached him as a schoolgirl and how he was immediately blown away by her talent.

“I got the first tape. I was the only DJ with a national profile living in Limerick, I was in 2fm from 1979 to 2000 so a lot of Limerick groups came to me with tapes. And I remember Dolores coming to me with her cassette and saying ‘what do you think?’ This was way before she joined The Cranberries,” he said.

“She was so shy and so sweet, I think she was even in her school uniform at the time and I remember saying to her ‘You have to get this recorded’.

“She had done the cassette at home I think so I told her straight away to go to a studio and get a demo,” he told the Irish Independent.

He continued to follow O’Riordan through her meteoric rise and was taken by how the fame never changed her.

“I would have seen her at the very start like a lot of bands and I would have stayed in touch with her. As a proud Limerick man, I followed her career. I suppose I was a bit frustrated that the first album was a slow mover. But then it all took off.

“She never changed, she was so humble. She didn’t want to be a superstar.

“It was all about the music.”