The Cranberries Producer Tributes 'Irish Songbird' Dolores O'Riordan

(Radio.com) Following the death of The Cranberries singer Dolores O'Riordan at age 46, producer Stephen Street issued a passionate statement. Street worked on the Irish band's first two albums that garnered them stateside success, 1993's Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We? and 1994's No Need to Argue.

In the message, he paid tribute to his "Irish Songbird" and recalled meeting O'Riordan at a club in London when she was still a teenager. "Dolores was so nervous, she spent most of the gig singing sideways-on to the audience, unable to look the crowd in the eye," he wrote to Rolling Stone. "However, there was something special there that captivated me and I agreed to go into the studio with them to see what we could create."

He went on to produce The Cranberries classics like "Dreams" and "Linger." Street says the success of their early hits helped Dolores gain confidence and determination: "The transformation was incredible to say the least," he wrote. The producer remembered her as a "firebrand" whose energy and enthusiasm took the band to new heights. Read more here.