THE CRANBERRIES have become the first Irish band to reach the incredible milestone of one billion plays on YouTube for their protest song Zombie.
Zombie is the sixth music video from the 20th century to reach the billion-views milestone on YouTube.
Written by Dolores O'Riordan as a protest song after IRA bombings in Warrington killed two children and injured 56 others in March 1993, the band were adamant "Zombie" should be the lead single from their album No Need To Argue and resisted the suggestion to go with a less political track..
The official video directed by Samuel Bayer features original footage of Northern Irish street scenes with children playing war games during The Troubles, including the now famous political and historical murals.
In the video Dolores O'Riordan stands before a giant cross wearing a crown of thorns surrounded by silver cherubs, with cutaway shots of the band performing live outdoors mixed in alongside the striking imagery.
Fergal Lawler, The Cranberries drummer said of the achievement: "We are so delighted with the news that 'Zombie' has reached 1 billion views on YouTube. We are sure Dolores has a big, proud smile on her face too. Thank you so much to all our fans around the world for supporting us over so many years. Hopefully you are all safe and well and managing to find some hope and positivity in our music."
Noel Hogan, The Cranberries guitarist continues, "For 'Zombie' to reach 1 billion views has been a long road and another milestone for the band. Little did we think twenty something years ago that this song would stand the test of time and mean so much too so many. All we can say is thank you to the fans for all they have done for us."
Bassist Mike Hogan concludes, "I can still remember making such a great video and seeing the impact that it had - and still does - on people. Big shout out to all The Cranberries fans around the world - thanks so much."
Their most commercially successful single, Zombie went on to top the singles charts in Australia, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland and was #1 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart in the US.
In 1995 it was awarded 'Best Song' at the MTV Europe Music Awards, and was voted #1 on Australia's Triple J Hottest 100 chart in 1994.
On January 16th 2018, Colin Parry - father of Tim Parry, the twelve-year-old victim of the Warrington bomb - thanked Dolores O'Riordan for the "majestic and (also) very real lyrics" in the track.
No Need To Argue was released in October 1994 and stayed on the UK charts for 98 weeks after being certified multiple platinum.
Zombie follows in the footsteps of Guns N' Roses' November Rain (1992); Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit (1991); Guns N' Roses Sweet Child O' Mine (1987); A-ha's Take On Me (1985); and Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody (1975) in reaching one-billion views.
