In 1989, brothers Mike (bass) and Noel (guitar) Hogan formed The Cranberry Saw Us with Drummer Fergal Lawler and singer Niall Quinn, in Limerick, Ireland. Less than a year later, Quinn left the band. The remaining band members then placed an advertisement for a female singer. Dolores O'Riordan responded to the advertisement and auditioned by writing lyrics and melodies to some existing demos. When she returned with a rough version of "Linger", she was hired, and they recorded Nothing Left At All, a three-track EP released on tape by local record label Xeric Records, which sold 300 copies. The group changed their name to "The Cranberries". The owner of Xeric Studios, Pearse Gilmore, became their manager and provided the group with studio time to complete another demo tape, which he produced. It featured early versions of "Linger" and "Dreams", which were sent to record companies throughout the UK.

The Cranberries rose to international fame in the 1990s with their debut album, Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We?, which became a commercial success. The Cranberries have sold over 40 million records worldwide. The band achieved four top 20 albums on the Billboard 200 chart (Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We?; No Need to Argue, To the Faithful Departed and Bury the Hatchet) and eight top 20 singles on the Modern Rock Tracks chart ("Linger", "Dreams", "Zombie", "Ode to My Family", "Ridiculous Thoughts", "Salvation", "Free to Decide", and "Promises").

The band's debut single "Dreams" was released in September 1992, followed by their first full-length album Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We? in March 1993. Neither the album nor the single gained much attention, nor did a second single, "Linger". When the band embarked on a tour supporting Suede, they caught the attention of MTV, which put their videos into heavy rotation. Although "Linger" was first released in the UK in February 1993, peaking at 74, it was later re-issued in February 1994 peaking at 14. This was followed by "Dreams" (released again in May 1994, peaking at No. 27) which helped their debut album to top the UK Album Chart in June.

The group reunited with Street for No Need to Argue, which was released in late 1994. It would go on to peak at No. 6 on the US charts and eventually outsold its predecessor. Within a year it went triple platinum, spawning the number one hit "Zombie" and the No. 11 "Ode to My Family" on the Modern Rock Tracks chart.

In 1995, the band continued to tour, and released two more singles "I Can't Be with You" and "Ridiculous Thoughts". The album went 5× platinum in Canada, platinum in Switzerland, and 7× platinum in the United States.

The band's third album To the Faithful Departed peaked at No. 2 in the UK and No. 4 on the Billboard 200. Despite favorable reviews, the album did not match the sales of No Need to Argue. The album went double platinum in the US and Gold in the UK. The first single from the album was "Salvation" which topped the Modern Rock Tracks chart. The second single from the album was "Free to Decide"; the single's peak in the UK was 33 and placing on the Billboard Hot 100. In late 1996, the group cancelled their Australian and European tour, sparking rumours that O'Riordan was about to launch a solo career. In November 1996 "When You're Gone" was released as a single in the United States, peaking at 22 on the Hot 100.

In 1999, the group released Bury the Hatchet. The first single "Promises" was released in February. "Promises" would be the only single from the album to chart in the US and last single before their hiatus. The album peaked at 7 in the UK and 13 in the US and was certified gold in the US. The second single from the album was "Animal Instinct", which didn't chart in the UK, although it did chart in France, Austria and many others. The third and fourth singles were "Just My Imagination" and "You & Me", respectively. The band had a guest appearance on popular television series Charmed, performing "Just My Imagination" on the fifth episode of the second season, "She's a Man, Baby, a Man!". The group started a world tour in April 1999 and it finished in July 2000. The group partnered with Ticketmaster.com to be the first artists to sell tickets for a national tour exclusively online. It was the biggest and most successful tour of the Cranberries' career. The tour brought them back to Ireland for their first date since May 2000. They performed at Millstreet in County Cork. As the tour rolled on, the band released Bury The Hatchet – The Complete Sessions, a double CD featuring B-sides as well as live tracks taken from a show in Paris.

In October 2001, the album Wake Up and Smell the Coffee was released. The band's old Producer Stephen Street had returned and produced their new music video. The album peaked at 46 on the Billboard 200 and reached No. 61 in the UK. The first single released from the album was "Analyse", which charted in the US Adult Top 40 at a peak of 26. In January 2002, they released the second single "Time Is Ticking Out", and some months later another one, "This Is the Day".

At the end of February 2003, the Cranberries started working with Stephen Street and debuted their work for the first time in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on 29 May 2003 performing the songs "Astral Projection" and "In it Together". That September, the band announced they were taking some time to pursue individual careers and scrapped sessions for a sixth studio release.

Dolores O'Riordan started collaborating with other Musicians in 2004 before launching her solo career with the album Are You Listening? in 2007, following it with No Baggage in 2009. Dolores O'Riordan performed "Linger" in the 2006 movie Click.

Noel Hogan started a new project called Mono Band, whose first full-length self-titled album saw a limited release in 2005. He went on to form Arkitekt with singer-songwriter Richard Walters. He has also been working as a Producer with Supermodel Twins, from his native Limerick and Remma. Fergal Lawler was a member of The Low Network, whose first album was released in 2007. He has also worked with Walter Mitty and the Realists as well as Last Days Of Death Country as both Producer and musician.

The Cranberries reunited in January 2009 to celebrate O'Riordan becoming an Honorary Patron of University Philosophical Society (Trinity College, Dublin). The group indicated at the time that this did not signify an official reunion, but on 25 August 2009, in anticipation of the release of No Baggage, O'Riordan announced that the Cranberries would be reuniting for a North American and European tour. O'Riordan indicated that the band would be playing songs from her solo albums and a lot of the Cranberries' classic hits as well as some new group compositions.

The Cranberries recorded Roses at the Metalworks Studios in Mississauga, Canada, from 18 April to 15 May 2011 with Stephen Street, who previously collaborated with the band on their first, second and fifth albums. The Cranberries worked on 15 tracks during the Roses session, although not all were included on the album. The album was released on 27 February 2012.

O'Riordan started legal proceedings against Noel Hogan in October 2013. The case was struck out in July 2015 and the cause was not divulged.

O'Riordan began recording new material with D.A.R.K. in April 2014.

With the release of the new album, the group announced a tour which was to include dates in Europe, parts of the UK, and North America. The shows were scheduled in smaller venues, with live orchestral accompaniment. However, in May 2017, shortly into the European tour, The Cranberries had to cancel the remainder of the European dates due to O'Riordan's health, with the band's website citing "medical reasons associated with a back problem". The North American tour dates were cancelled in July when her recovery had not progressed enough for her to participate.

On 7 March 2018, the band announced they were releasing a special 25th anniversary newly remastered anniversary edition of the debut album Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We, with previously unreleased material as well as other bonus material from the era of the album. However, with O'Riordan's death it was delayed until late 2018. The band also decided to complete their new album underway at the time O'Riordan died, for which she had already recorded the vocals. Plans were also announced to release the half completed as yet untitled final album of new work which O'Riordan had already recorded the vocals for.

Their music has been likened to Singers such as Sinéad O'Connor and Siouxsie and the Banshees. O'Riordan stated her singing style incorporating yodelling was inspired by her father who used to sing "The Lonesome Cattle Call": "I just kept with my father all the time, just copying him and eventually I learned how to do it. Then over the years there were artists like Sinéad O’Connor and Siouxsie from Siouxsie and the Banshees and even Peter Harvey was doing it. It was something that you could work into The Cranberries’ format because a lot of that was used in religious Irish music."