The Cranberries were an Irish rock band formed in Limerick, Ireland in 1989 by lead singer Niall Quinn, guitarist Noel Hogan, bassist Mike Hogan, and drummer Fergal Lawler. Quinn was replaced as lead singer by Dolores O'Riordan in 1990. The band officially classify themselves as an alternative rock group, but incorporate aspects of indie pop, post-punk, folk rock and pop rock into their sound.
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 commercial success, and achieved five top 20 albums on the Billboard 200 chart : Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We?, No Need to Argue, To the Faithful Departed, Bury the Hatchet and Stars: The Best of 1992-2002 as well as having eight top 20 singles on the Modern Rock Tracks chart : "Linger", "Dreams", "Zombie", "Ode to My Family", "Ridiculous Thoughts", "Salvation", "Free to Decide", and "Promises". Their fifth studio album Wake Up and Smell the Coffee was released in October 2001.
The Cranberries' total sales are between over 40 and near 50 million albums worldwide as of 2019. The band ranks as one of the best-selling alternative acts of the '90s which garnered them an MTV Europe Music Award, a World Music Award, an International Group nomination at Brit Awards, a Juno nomination and a Juno Award win. The band was nominated for the Ivor Novello Awards and received an Ivor Novello Award for International Achievement. In 1998 they performed at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert. In 2016, they received a BMI Award with a Special Citation of Achievement. In the End earned them a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Album.