The lead singer of The Cranberries, Dolores O’Riordan, died by drowning due to alcohol intoxication, an inquest at Westminster Coroner’s Court reportedly revealed on Thursday.
According to the BBC, O’Riordan, who was found dead on Jan. 15 in her London Hilton Hotel room, died as a result of a “tragic accident” after being discovered “submerged in the bath with her nose and mouth fully under the water.”
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According to coroner Dr. Shirley Radcliffe, a post-mortem examination found no signs of injury or self-harm, though while toxicology tests showed that O’Riordan’s blood only contained “therapeutic” amounts of medication, the tests showed 330mg of alcohol per 100mls of blood. Those levels were “four times over the 80mg legal limit for driving,” according to the outlet.
Authorities who had arrived at the scene had discovered a bottle of champagne and five miniature bottles, in addition to “containers of prescription drugs with a quantity of tablets in each container,” the inquest heard. O’Roirdan reportedly suffered from bipolar disorder but responded well to treatment. She was said to be in “good spirits” when she had last spoken to psychiatrist Dr. Seamus O Ceallaigh on Jan. 9.
Following the inquest, which coincided on what would have been O’Riordan’s 47th birthday, The Cranberries released an official statement.
“Today we continue to struggle to come to terms with what happened. Our heartfelt condolences go out to Dolores’ children and her family and our thoughts are with them today,” the statement began.
“Dolores will live on eternally in her music. To see how much of a positive impact she had on people’s lives has been a source of great comfort for us,” The Cranberries’ statement continued.. “We’d like to say thank you to all of our fans for the outpouring of messages and their continues support during this very difficult time. We request, please, for our privacy to be respected at this time.”
O’Riordan joined The Cranberries in 1990 when she was only 18, going on to lead the band to worldwide rock fame for 13 years before their eventual split in 2003. In 2009, she returned for The Cranberries’ reunion.
Along with composing the band’s first major hit, “Linger,” O’Roirdan also penned “Zombie,” the hit protest song that reached number 1 on the charts in Australia, Belgium, France, Denmark and Germany and went on to win Best Song at the 1995 MTV Europe Music Awards.
Just prior to her death, The Cranberries had played in South America, and in the months since her passing, they have announced that they will release a new album, a remastered version of Everybody Else Is Doing it So Why Can’t We, which O’Roirdan had been working on.
