The death of Cranberries singer Dolores O’Riordan has been ruled a “tragic accident” at an inquest at Westminster Coroner’s Court, the BBC reports.
O’Riordan died by drowning after excessive drinking. Expert witnesses said the singer showed no sign or evidence of self-harm. O’Riordan was found dead in the bathtub at her London hotel January 15th. She was 46.
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Officials told the inquest that they found empty bottles of alcohol in O’Riordan’s hotel room, including five miniature bottles and a bottle of champagne. There were also containers of prescription drugs with tablets in each, though a toxicology report showed that O’Riordan had only “therapeutic” amounts of medication in her blood. However, her blood alcohol levels were more than four times over the legal driving limit.
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The surviving members of the Cranberries released a statement following the inquest, saying, “On January 15th 2018 we lost our dear friend and band mate Dolores O’Riordan. Today we continue to struggle to come to terms with what happened. Our heartfelt condolences go out to Dolores’ children and her family and our thoughts are with them today. Dolores will live on eternally in her music. To see how much of a positive impact she had on people’s lives has been a source of great comfort to us.”
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The Cranberries will release a 25th anniversary edition of their debut album, "Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We?", October 19th. The Irish rock outfit began planning the project last year, but put it on hold after O’Riordan’s death. In March, the band announced they were moving ahead with the reissue, as well as a new album they’d begun to record.
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