“Zombie” is a protest song by Irish alternative rock band the Cranberries, written by the band’s lead singer Dolores O’Riordan in memory of Johnathan Ball and Tim Parry, who were killed in the 1993 Warrington bombings. It was released on 19 September 1994 as the lead single from their second studio album, No Need to Argue, two weeks ahead of the album’s release. Music critics have long recognised “Zombie” as “a masterpiece of alternative rock”, as well as a grunge number uncharacteristic of the band’s other work.
“Zombie” reached No. 1 on the charts of Australia, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, and Iceland, as well as on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. The song was voted by Australian radio Triple J listeners as No. 1 on the 1994 Triple J Hottest 100 chart. It won the Best Song Award at the 1995 MTV Europe Music Awards.
In 2017, the song was released as an acoustic, stripped-down version on the band’s Something Else album. In April 2020, it became the first song by an Irish band to surpass one billion views on YouTube. As of May 2021, Zombie has been streamed over 670 million times on Spotify and as of December 2021, has sold 778,942 copies in the United Kingdom.
Watch on YouTube: Zombie- the cranberries – bad wolves vocal cover by Sirius