Irish musician and singer-songwriter Dolores O’Riordan has died suddenly at the age of 46, her publicist has confirmed.

She led The Cranberries to international success in the 90s with singles including Linger and Zombie.

A statement from Dolores O’Riordan publicist said: “The lead singer with the Irish band The Cranberries was in London for a short recording session.

“No further details are available at this time.”

The statement added: “Family members are devastated to hear the news and have requested privacy at this very difficult time.”

The Cranberries shot to international fame with their 1993 debut album Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We? and went on to sell over 40 million records worldwide.

Image source Wikimedia

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Last year, The Cranberries announced a tour including dates in Europe, the UK, and the US.

However, in May – shortly into the European tour – The Cranberries had to cancel the remainder of the European dates as a result of Dolores O’Riordan’s health issues.

The band’s official website cited “medical reasons associated with a back problem” preventing singer Dolores O’Riordan’s from performing.

However, just before Christmas Dolores O’Riordan had posted on Facebook saying she was “feeling good” and had done her “first bit of gigging in months”, leading fans to believe she would soon be performing again.

The singer tweeted a picture of herself with her cat to fans in early January saying she was “off to Ireland”.

In 2014, Dolores O’Riordan split from her husband of 20 years, Don Burton. The singer and Dan Burton, who is the former tour manager of Duran Duran, have three children together.

Dolores O’Riordan suffered from bi-polar disorder and was spared a criminal conviction after an air rage incident in 2014.