The Cranberries' lead singer Dolores O'Riordan

The untold truth of "The Cranberries"

The world was shocked by the announcement of the death of The Cranberries' lead singer Dolores O'Riordan on January 15, 2018. It wasn't until the following day that news outlets like The Irish Independent reported that police ruled her untimely death not suspicious, leaving family, friends, and millions of fans to mourn the singer-songwriter who had been the heart, soul, and soundtrack of a generation. You know her voice, you know her songs, so let's take a look at what you might not know about her and the legacy she left behind.

What were you doing when you were 19 years old? When she was 19, O'Riordan and The Cranberries were already touring the world and performing in venues packed with fans. That's a lot to process at any age, and it's almost unimaginable for someone who's still a teenager.

At first, it was too much. When she talked to The Independent in 2009, she could slow down and look at her rise to fame though a different lens. She said some of her difficulties came from achieving too much too young, but some came because she was so uncomfortable being watched.

True, O'Riordan had been performing for years by the time she stepped onto the world stage. But most of those early performances were in traditional Irish settings, where the attitude toward music is very different. "People don't look at you singing," she said. "They go within themselves and listen. Music is about listening, not looking." By the time she was 23, she said she "went nuts for a while," feeling like everyone was watching all the time. She didn't like it.