WHY CAN’T WE? – The Story Of The Cranberries is a beautifully produced book from Hot Press Magazine and curated by music journalist and Deputy Editor Stuart Clark, a confidante of the band from their earliest days in music.
The book is a career-spanning book about the extraordinary life and times of Dolores O’Riordan and the band she fronted, The Cranberries. It includes contributions from the likes of Michael Stipe and Simon Le Bon. The band’s history is told from an insiders’ perspective, in a powerful ‘as-it-happened’ style, by Hot Press alongside the band and their inner circle.
It all reads like an odds-defying story that brings the music, the characters and the events together in a roller-coaster narrative.
The book features dozens of never before seen pictures, and up-to-date exclusive new material from producer, Stephen Street, musician, Andy Rourke, award-winning author Kevin Barry, Derry Girls creator Lisa McGee.
Fully supported by The Cranberries and the estate of Dolores O’Riordan, WHY CAN’T WE? documents the birth and extraordinary rise of a band that made the city and county of Limerick proud as their instantly recognisable hits as ‘Linger’, ‘Dreams’, ‘Zombie’ and ‘Ode To My Family’ became anthems for people all over the world, particularly in Italy and Mexico where the band still has a huge loyal fanbase.
Welcoming the publication of WHY CAN’T WE?, Noel Hogan of The Cranberries says: “Stuart Clark wrote the first press release that we ever did, as The Cranberry Saw Us, so it’s great to see his name on an absolutely brilliant, blow-by-blow account of the incredible adventure we embarked on, all those years ago. We’ve always had a fantastic relationship with Hot Press, so I think fans are going to really relish re-living all of the highs, as well as the sadness and the pain, as told through the pages of the magazine.”
Fergal Lawler adds: “Fans are going to love WHY CAN’T WE? Stuart Clark and Hot Press were there from the very start with the band, and Dolores was such a great interviewee. It is a fantastic way of remembering her, and of celebrating the music that was her life’s work.”
Dolores’ mother Eileen says:
“This is a unique and fascinating way to tell the story of the band, and of Dolores’ solo musical exploits. I think she would be delighted with it.”
Recalling the eager 18-year-old he first met just after she’d left school, Stuart says: “Dolores O’Riordan was smart, loving, loyal, dedicated and as funny as f*ck. Hers was a truly unique and special talent. Alongside her three brothers-in-arms in The Cranberries, Ferg, Mike and Noel, she gave Limerick what it had always craved – a world-beater of a band who proudly represented the city wherever they roamed.
“From my conversations with her,” he adds, “I’m not sure that Dolores ever fully appreciated how much she was loved locally and indeed abroad – or how many people she inspired to express their own innermost personal thoughts and emotions through songs.”
WHY CAN’T WE? – The Story Of The Cranberries is available in O’Mahony’s Bookstore, O’Connell Street, Limerick. It is also available online from hotpress.com/shop
