R.I.P.
Dolores O'Riordan, whose urgent, powerful voice helped make Irish rock band The Cranberries a global success in the 1990s, died suddenly on Monday at a London hotel. She was 46.
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In this May 6, 2004 file photo, lead singer Dolores O'Riordan from the The Cranberries performs onstage during a benefit show in aid of the United Nations UNHCR refugees fund held at the Royal Albert hall, central London. . (Yui Mok/PA via AP, file)
FILE - In this April 30, 2004 file photo, singer Dolores O'Riordan poses for photographers at the Sony Radio Academy Awards 2007, in London. (Yui Mok/PA via AP, File)
FILE - In this Sunday, Jan. 27, 2008 file photo, Cranberries lead singer Dolores O'Riordan performs during the European Border Breakers awards, or EBBA awards, in Cannes, southern France. (AP Photo/Bruno Bebert, File)
In this Dec. 16, 2015 file photo, Cranberries singer Dolores O'Riordan arrives at Ennis District Court, in Ennis, Ireland. (Niall Carson/PA via AP, File)
In this May 6, 2004 file photo, lead singer Dolores O'Riordan from the The Cranberries performs onstage during a benefit show in aid of the United Nations UNHCR refugees fund held at the Royal Albert hall, central London. . (Yui Mok/PA via AP, file)
The singer-songwriter's publicist, Lindsey Holmes, confirmed that O'Riordan died in London, where she was recording,
"No further details are available at this time," Holmes said, adding that O'Riordan's family was "devastated" by the news.
Her Cranberries bandmates — Noel Hogan, Mike Hogan and Fergus Lawler — tweeted that O'Riordan "was an extraordinary talent and we feel very privileged to have been part of her life."
FILE - In this April 30, 2004 file photo, singer Dolores O'Riordan poses for photographers at the Sony Radio Academy Awards 2007, in London. (Yui Mok/PA via AP, File)
London's Metropolitan Police force said officers were called just after 9 a.m. Monday to a hotel where a woman in her 40s was found dead. The police force said the death was being treated as "unexplained."
The Hilton hotel in London's Park Lane confirmed that a guest had died on the premises.
Ireland's President Michael D. Higgins said O'Riordan and The Cranberries "had an immense influence on rock and pop music in Ireland and internationally."
FILE - In this Sunday, Jan. 27, 2008 file photo, Cranberries lead singer Dolores O'Riordan performs during the European Border Breakers awards, or EBBA awards, in Cannes, southern France. (AP Photo/Bruno Bebert, File)
O'Riordan was born on Sept. 6, 1971 in Ballybricken, southwest Ireland. In 1990, she answered an ad from a local band in nearby Limerick city — then called The Cranberry Saw Us — that was looking for a lead singer.
A name change and a confluence of factors turned The Cranberries into international stars. Their guitar-based sound had an alternative-rock edge at a time when grunge was storming the music scene.
The band's songs — on which O'Riordan was chief lyricist and co-songwriter — had a Celtic-infused tunefulness. And in O'Riordan the group had a charismatic lead singer with a distinctively powerful voice.
In this Dec. 16, 2015 file photo, Cranberries singer Dolores O'Riordan arrives at Ennis District Court, in Ennis, Ireland. (Niall Carson/PA via AP, File)
Heavy play on MTV for their debut single "Dream" and the singles that followed helped bring the group to the attention of a mass audience.
The Cranberries' 1993 debut album, "Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We?", sold millions of copies and produced the hit single "Linger."
The follow-up, "No Need to Argue," sold in even greater numbers and contained "Zombie," a visceral howl against Northern Ireland's violent Troubles that topped singles charts in several countries.
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar tweeted Monday that "for anyone who grew up in Ireland in the 1990s, Dolores O'Riordan was the voice of a generation. As the female lead singer of a hugely successful rock band, she blazed a trail and might just have been Limerick's greatest ever rock star. RIP."
The band released three more studio albums before splitting up in 2003. O'Riordan released a solo album, "Are You Listening," in 2007, and another, "No Baggage," in 2009.
The Cranberries also reunited that year, resulting in the album "Roses" in 2012.
For a time, O'Riordan was one of Ireland's richest women, but she struggled with both physical and mental health problems.
The Cranberries released the acoustic album "Something Else" in 2017 and had been due to tour Europe and North America. The tour was cut short because O'Riordan was suffering from back problems.
In 2014, O'Riordan was accused of assaulting three police officers and a flight attendant during a flight from New York to Ireland. She pleaded guilty and was fined 6,000 euros ($6,600.)
Medical records given to the court indicated she was mentally ill at the time of the altercation. After her court hearing O'Riordan urged other people suffering mental illness to seek help.
She told London's Metro newspaper last year that she had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and she spoke to the Irish News about her battles with depression.
O'Riordan said depression "is one of the worst things to go through," but that "I've also had a lot of joy in my life, especially with my children."
"You get ups as well as downs. Sure, isn't that what life's all about?" she said.
O'Riordan is survived by her ex-husband, the former Duran Duran tour manager Don Burton, and their three children.
NEW YORK (AP) — Luigi Mangione’s federal death penalty trial in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson could begin before the end of the year, a judge said Friday while weighing a defense bid to bar the government from making it a capital case.
U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett said she expects Mangione’s trial to begin in December — or possibly January 2027, as federal prosecutors suggested — if the death penalty is still on the table. If not, she said, Mangione could stand trial in October.
Either way, Garnett said, she expects jury selection to begin around Sept. 8. No trial date has been scheduled in Mangione’s parallel state murder case. Prosecutors previously said they anticipated the state trial to be first.
Garnett said she would issue a written schedule after looking at her calendar and reviewing notes of conversations she's had with the court’s jury coordinator.
The judge said she would rule at a later date on the defense's requests to prevent prosecutors from seeking the death penalty, throw out some charges and exclude certain evidence. Another pretrial conference is scheduled for Jan. 30.
Mangione’s lawyers contend that authorities prejudiced his case by turning his December 2024 arrest into a “Marvel movie” spectacle and by publicly declaring their desire to see him executed even before he was formally indicted.
At the same time, they are asking Garnett to throw out two of the four charges against him, including the murder by firearm charge that has enabled the government to seek the death penalty. They argue that it is legally flawed.
Federal prosecutors say Mangione’s lawyers are wrong on both fronts, countering that the murder charge is legally sufficient and that “pretrial publicity, even when intense” is hardly a constitutional crisis. Any concerns about public perceptions can be alleviated by carefully questioning prospective jurors about their knowledge of the case, prosecutors wrote in a court filing.
Mangione has pleaded not guilty to federal and state murder charges, which carry the possibility of life in prison.
Friday's hearing was Mangione’s first trip to Manhattan federal court since his April 25 arraignment.
A cause célèbre for people upset with the health insurance industry, Mangione again drew supporters to the courthouse. Some wore green clothing and carried signs such as “Free Luigi" and “No Death For Luigi Mangione."
Mangione, wearing a beige jail uniform, was attentive but didn’t speak once during the nearly three-hour proceeding. After entering the courtroom, he greeted his lead attorneys, Karen Friedman Agnifilo and Marc Agnifilo, with handshakes. He nodded along while reading documents, sometimes sipping from a plastic water bottle.
In addition to the death penalty issue, Garnett is weighing a defense request — similar to one in his state case — to bar the government from using certain items found in a backpack during his arrest. The defense argues that the search was illegal because police had not yet obtained a warrant.
Those items include a gun that police said matched the one used to kill Thompson and a notebook in which Mangione purportedly described his intent to “wack” a health insurance executive.
Garnett said she is not inclined to hold a separate hearing on the evidence issue like one last month that took three weeks in Mangione’s state murder case. The judge in that case said he won’t rule until May.
Prosecutors contend police were justified in searching the backpack to make sure there were no dangerous items and that the gun, notebook and other evidence would have eventually been found anyway.
Thompson, 50, was killed Dec. 4, 2024, as he walked to a Manhattan hotel for UnitedHealth Group’s annual investor conference. Surveillance video showed a masked gunman shooting him from behind. Police say “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were written on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims.
Mangione, 27, the Ivy League-educated scion of a wealthy Maryland family, was arrested five days later at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 230 miles (about 370 kilometers) west of Manhattan.
He's already had success paring down his state case. In September, a judge threw out state terrorism charges against him.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced last year that she was directing federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty, declaring that capital punishment was warranted for a “premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America.”
Mangione’s lawyers argue that Bondi’s announcement, which she followed with Instagram posts and a TV appearance, showed the decision was “based on politics, not merit.” Her remarks tainted the grand jury process that resulted in his indictment a few weeks later, they said.
In this courtroom sketch, Luigi Mangione, center, flanked by his attorneys Karen Agnifilo, left and Marc Agnifilo, right, during his court appearance in Manhattan federal court, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)
Marc Agnifilo, attorney for Luigi Mangione, arrives at Manhattan federal court, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Supporters of Luigi Mangione raise signs outside Manhattan federal court, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
US Marshall Service officer stand while people wait in line outside Manhattan federal court ahead of a hearing for Luigi Mangione, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Legal team of Luigi Mangione including Karen Friedman Agnifilo, center, and Marc Agnifilo, second right, arrive at Manhattan federal court, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
