The Cranberries set to become first Irish band to reach a billion views on YouTube
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The Cranberries set to become first Irish band to reach a billion views on YouTube

THE CRANBERRIES are on course to become the first Irish band to generate a billion views of their music videos on YouTube.

According to YouTube data obtained by the Sunday Times, the promo clip for the band’s 1994 hit single Zombie is set to hit more than 1 billion views before Christmas.

The video was first uploaded to the popular streaming website back in 2009.

In the decade since it has generated in excess of 960 million views and is set to join the Queen hit Bohemian Rhapsody as one of only three songs recorded in the 20th century to hit this landmark.

The other comes courtesy of Guns N’ Roses and their epic power ‘90s power ballad November Rain.

According to a Sunday Times report, Zombie has been viewed an astonishing 360,000 times a day on average for the past month.

The video was watched most on January 15, 2018 -  the day The Cranberries lead singer Dolores O'Riordan died.

A protest song about the Troubles, O’Riordan wrote the song in response to the 1993 IRA bombing in Warrington, which killed two children, Johnathan Ball and Tim Parry.

Zombie hit No. 1 on the singles charts in Australia, Belgium, France, Denmark, and Germany.

The music video was directed by Samuel Bayer, who also directed Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit. It was filmed in Dublin, Belfast, and Los Angeles.

The Cranberries are not the only Irish act on course to hit the billion mark.

Hozier’s Take Me To Church has 332m views,  Snow Patrol’s Chasing Cars has 219m and the clip for the U2 track Beautiful Day has 131m views.