If you consider yourself a bit of a 90s music buff, you'll probably be pretty well versed in all things The Cranberries's and their backlog of hits.
Yesterday it was announced lead singer Dolores O’Riordan suddenly died at the age of 46. She tragically passed away while in London to reportedly record a cover of one of the bands best known songs, Zombie.
Having performed with one of the most mood defining bands of the 1990s, Dolores’s voice was one that many of us, one way or another, came to know really well.
Why? Because The Cranberries were one of those low-key musical powerhouses of the 90s and their impact filtered through to the worlds of film and TV too. So we're taking a trip down memory lane and looking back at some of the iconic film and TV moment’s that were soundtracked by one of the most 90s bands of our millennial childhoods.
The Next Karate Kid, 1994
Remember first meeting Hilary Swank in the Karate Kid sequel? No? Well, she chose Dreams by The Cranberries to practice some exemplary karate. Some monks overheard, clearly loved the song and danced along to it in what’d probably one of my favourite moments of the film.
Boys On The Side, 1995
Whoopi Goldberg, Drew Barrymore and Matthew McConaughey all star in this nostalgic shock to the system of a film. Dreams was right there on the soundtrack and apparently the song for the official trailer, too.
Beverly Hills, 90210, 1995
Cast your minds back to season 5, episode 24 of Beverly Hills 90210 (you know, if you were old enough to watch it and understand it back in the mid 90s) and you’ll remember Steve and Clare’s first kiss. The soundtrack? Dreams by The Cranberries of course.
Clueless, 1995
Here’s a piece of Clueless trivia that you’ll want to take with you to your next pub quiz. You know when Elton makes Cher get in the car with him on the way home? You know, just before he makes that dick move of making unsolicited advances towards her which makes Cher get out of the car in a parking lot where she’s subsequently robbed? He puts Away by The Cranberries on the radio and sings a bit of it to her. A great song, which Elton clearly did not deserve to sing.
Empire Records, 1995
Put this on your list of films to watch at you’re next non-ironic boozy slumber party because it’s an absolute gem. The Cranberries feature twice on the Empire Records soundtrack with both How and Liar and you’re just going to have to go away and watch the whole film to find out where and when the songs appear…
Mission: Impossible, 1996
No, I wouldn’t have put Tom Cruise and The Cranberries together either but what film isn’t made better by a cheeky four minutes of Dreams? The song comes right at the end when young brooding Ethan has a drink with Luther.
You’ve Got Mail, 1998
Meg Ryan and Tom Hank’s dreamt encounter was only improved by, yep, you guessed it – Dreams.
Charmed, 1999
The Cranberries actually physically appeared in Charmed back in 1999 which was a matched in TV-meets-music heaven. They perform Just My Imagination at P3 – a reference that only dedicated followers of The Power of Three will understand.
Honorable mentions:
(as discovered through extensive IMDb stalking...)
*Analyse, ***Analyse, **as featured in ****as featured in **Smallville ***Smallville ****Smallville ***Smallville *in 2001 and ***in 2001 and ****The Sopranos ***The Sopranos **The Sopranos **in 2002
*Dreams, ***Dreams, **as featured in ****as featured in **90210 ***90210 ****90210 ***90210 *in 2009 and ***in 2009 and ****Gossip Girl ***Gossip Girl **Gossip Girl **in 2012
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.