Hear New ‘Zombie’ Cover Dolores O’Riordan Was Set to Appear on Before Death
At the time of Cranberries singer Dolores O’Riordan’s death earlier this week, she was set to revisit her band’s poignant 1994 hit, “Zombie,” with a heavy-metal band. Bad Wolves, a new group consisting of former members of DevilDriver, In This Moment and God Forbid, had recorded a version of the song a few months ago for their upcoming debut album, and Dan Waite, a friend of O’Riordan’s who works at the band’s label, sent it to her to get her take on it. “Dan sent me a message like, ‘She loved it, and she wants to sing on it,'” Bad Wolves frontman Tommy Vext tells Rolling Stone. “It made my year just to have that kind of validation.”
They set up a session in London not knowing what O’Riordan would record – whether recutting the lead vocals or adding backups to Vext’s recording – and ultimately the band never found out what her intention would be. News broke Monday that the singer had died “suddenly”; no cause of death has been released, though authorities said they weren’t treating it as suspicious.
Now Bad Wolves are releasing their “Zombie” cover – the version O’Riordan approved of – as a tribute to the late singer. All profits from the track will benefit O’Riordan’s three children. “You never know if that’s going to help,” Vext says. “But hopefully it does some good.”
Bad Wolves’ interpretation of “Zombie” is moody like the…