Enya (Irish singer-songwriter)

~ Person

Legal name: Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin, Enya Patricia Brennan

Wikipedia

Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin (born 17 May 1961), known mononymously as Enya, is an Irish composer and singer-songwriter. The music of Enya is widely recognised for featuring multi-layers of her vocals, varied instrumentation, lengthened reverb, and subtle Celtic elements. Her career as a solo artist, now over four decades long, is notably an atypical path to success in the music industry. As the second-best-selling Irish music act overall, after rock band U2, Enya is the best-selling Irish solo artist, believed to have sold over 80 million albums worldwide.

Enya was raised in the Irish-speaking region of Gweedore. In 1980, Enya (as Eithne Ní Bhraonáin) began her musical career playing alongside her family's Celtic folk band Clannad. She left Clannad in 1982 to pursue a solo career, working with the former Clannad manager and producer, Nicky Ryan, and his partner Roma, as their lyricist. Over the following four years, Enya developed her sound by combining multitracked vocals and keyboards with elements from a variety of musical genres such as Celtic, classical, church, jazz, ambient, world, pop, hip-hop and Irish folk.

The earliest releases by Enya as a solo artist were two instrumentals for the Touch Travel T4 cassette compilation (1984) composed around 1982–83. The majority of the soundtrack for The Frog Prince (1985) was composed by Enya, and she sang two songs with lyrics, however these were not heard in-film. Enya composed a body of work for the BBC documentary series named The Celts (1986). A selection of her pieces for The Celts were released as her debut album, Enya (1987). Former chairman of Warner Music, Rob Dickins found himself enjoying the music from The Celts. He happened to meet the trio, expressed his interest in Enya's music, and so she agreed to sign with Warner Music UK. The initial record deal granted her considerable artistic freedom and minimal interference. The success of Watermark (1988) propelled Enya to worldwide fame, helped mostly by the international hit single "Orinoco Flow (Sail Away)". This was followed by the multi-million-selling albums Shepherd Moons (1991), The Memory of Trees (1995), and A Day Without Rain (2000). Sales of A Day Without Rain and its lead single, "Only Time", surged in the United States following its use in media coverage of the 9/11 attacks. After Amarantine (2005) and And Winter Came... (2008), Enya took a four-year break from music, returning to the recording studio in 2012 to begin work on her eighth studio album Dark Sky Island (2015).

Regarding a new album, there have been several mentions by close sources of Enya, particularly her siblings, about Enya recording new music since her 2015 album. According to her sister Moya, Enya was recording music as of 2019. Enya's latest statement in-print, from the vinyl release of A Box of Dreams in June 2023: "Beidh muid ag teacht le chéile gan mhoile", is approximated as "we will meet again soon".

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Discography

Album

YearTitleArtistRatingReleases
1986Enya / The CeltsEnya4.1536
1988WatermarkEnya4.2524
1991Shepherd MoonsEnya4.7521
1995The Memory of TreesEnya4.659
2000A Day Without RainEnya4.313
2005AmarantineEnya4.5515
2008And Winter Came…Enya59
2015Dark Sky IslandEnya59

Album + Compilation

YearTitleArtistRatingReleases
1996The Enya CollectionEnya1
1996The Box CollectionEnya1
1997Paint the Sky With Stars: The Best of EnyaEnya510
1997A Box of DreamsEnya3
1997StarsEnya1
2001The X Sound StudioEnya1
2002Only Time: The CollectionEnya51
2002Best of EnyaEnya1
2009The Very Best of EnyaEnya3.759
2019Christmas SecretsEnya1
2020OceansEnya1
[1986–2002] The Best of EnyaEnya1
AnthologyEnya1
Caribbean BlueEnya1
Greatest Hits 1988–1995Enya1
Platinium Collection'2001Enya1
The Best 2001Enya1
The Best of EnyaEnya1

Album + Compilation + Soundtrack

YearTitleArtistRatingReleases
2001Themes From Calmi Cuori AppassionatiEnya3

Album + Soundtrack

YearTitleArtistRatingReleases
1985The Frog PrinceEnya23
2002May It BeEnya1

Single

YearTitleArtistRatingReleases
1987I Want TomorrowEnya4
1988Evening FallsEnya5
1988Orinoco FlowEnya9
1989Storms in AfricaEnya13
1991ExileEnya4
1991Caribbean BlueEnya5
1991How Can I Keep From Singing?Enya56
1991Anywhere IsEnya6
1991Caribbean BlueEnya1
1992Book of DaysEnya2
1992Book of Days (Limited Edition)Enya1
1992Marble HallsEnya2
1992Oíche Chiúin (Silent Night)Enya1
1992The CeltsEnya5
1996On My Way HomeEnya6
1997Only If…Enya7
2000Only TimeEnya10
2001Wild ChildEnya3
2001May It BeEnya5
2004I Don’t Wanna KnowMario Winans featuring Enya & P. Diddy3
2005AmarantineEnya6
2006It's in the Rain / Adeste, FidelesEnya2
2008Trains and Winter RainsEnya3
2008White Is in the Winter NightEnya1
2015Echoes in RainEnya1
2015So I Could Find My WayEnya1
2016DiveSalvatore ft. Enya and Alex Aris1

Single + Remix

YearTitleArtistRatingReleases
2009Boadicea (LEMMiNO remix)Enya2

EP

YearTitleArtistRatingReleases
19896 TracksEnya2
19903 Tracks EPEnya2
2006Sounds of the Season: The Enya CollectionEnya2
May It Be (Extended B-sides Version)Enya1

EP + Compilation

YearTitleArtistRatingReleases
1994The Christmas EPEnya2

Other + Interview

YearTitleArtistRatingReleases
1997In ConversationEnya1

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