The Cranberries Honored With Icon Award at ZYN Rolling Stone UK Awards
Guitarist Noel Hogan accepted the award on behalf of the band, honoring late singer Dolores O’Riordan in his speech.
Irish rock group The Cranberries were honored with the Icon Award at the ZYN Rolling Stone UK Awards over the weekend at the Roundhouse in Camden. The annual award recognizes artists who have made an indelible impact on music history.
Guitarist Noel Hogan accepted the honor on behalf of the group, and, in his acceptance speech, spoke warmly of The Cranberries’ late singer Dolores O’Riordan, who died unexpectedly in January 2018.
Hogan shared: “Dolores passed away nearly eight years ago, so it’s testament to the songs that they have lasted so long. When we were kids starting out in Limerick, we never thought our songs would last so long, let alone 37 years.”
“This means a lot to us and Dolores would love something like this tonight,” he continued. “If she’s looking down on us, she’ll be smiling.”
One of the best-selling alternative acts of the 1990s, The Cranberries have sold nearly 50 million albums worldwide and are behind classics like “Linger,” “Zombie,” and “Dreams.” They released their debut, Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We?, on Island Records in 1993 to commercial success, but it was their sophomore record, 1994’s No Need to Argue, that brought them international fame. After decades of successful touring, the group disbanded out of respect for O’Riordan shortly after her death, releasing an acclaimed final album, In The End, in 2019.
After accepting the honor, Hogan took part in a special one-off performance with the Australian indie rock duo Royel Otis, who recently went viral for their cover of The Cranberries’ “Linger.” The three musicians’ cover of the song was the closing performance of the night. Other honorees at this year’s awards included Bob Geldof, who received the Lifetime Achievement Award; FKA twigs, who won Album of the Year; and Lewisreleased in full for the first time on CD and vinyl. Capaldi, who brought home Artist Of The Year.
Earlier this year, The Cranberries released their 1995 MTV Unplugged performance, the first time it’s been put out in full on CD and vinyl. Before that, the group celebrated the 30th anniversary of No Need to Argue with an extensive box set. That package included a previously unreleased demo of Dolores O’Riordan singing what would eventually be the massive single “Zombie.”
