RIP Dolores

Songs by The Cranberries, like Alanis Morissette and Pearl Jam, always instantly take me back to high school.

As a queer kid growing up in Nowhere, Midwest and having few role models, I looked up to Dolores O'Riordan. Back then, I had no idea what her politics were on LGBT rights or what her sexual orientation even was. These were mostly pre-Internet days, after all. This might sound ridiculous if you have no insight into what my childhood was like, but, that she sang the political song "Zombie" at all, let alone the way she did, and had short platinum hair seemed queer enough for her to be a hero to me back then.

Here's one of my favorites, "When You're Gone."