The sudden death of Cranberries singer Dolores O’Riordan in January stunned her fans around the world.
Although O’Riordan had been open over the years about the mental-health challenges she had endured, friends were mystified by her apparent decision to take her own life as they believed she had been in a good place in the days and weeks before her death.
Now, TMZ has obtained what is believed to be a final voicemail from O’Riordan to her manager, and it will only deepen that sense of astonishment, as it appears to show O’Riordan in excellent form, bubbly and positive about a new cover version of her song “Zombie” that another band, Bad Wolves, was recording.
“It sounds fucking awesome, it sounds fucking terribly good,” she says in the message, “I’ll come into the studio if you need my time.”
She also asks after her manager’s wife, saying she has her leather jacket.
The voicemail had been previously mentioned by her manger, Dan Waite, who told People the day after her death: “Dolores left me a voice message just after midnight last night stating how much she loved Bad Wolves’ version of ‘Zombie.’
“She was looking forward to seeing me in the studio and recording vocals.
“She sounded full of life, was joking and excited to see me and my wife this week.”
The upbeat voicemail has a timestamp of 1:12 a.m. London time, but, just a few hours later O’Riordan was found dead in her hotel room.
While suicide has been widely suspected, the official cause of her death has yet to be released; police have only said she died suddenly.
The inquest into the 46-year-old’s death opened four days after she died but was adjourned until April 3 so the coroner could receive medical test results.
However, the coroner’s court then announced the hearing would not take place as scheduled, and a new date has yet to be set.
O’Riordan is survived by her three children with ex-husband Don Burton, her mom, Eileen; and her boyfriend Ole Koretsky.
O’Riordan was laid to rest in her native Ireland in January.