155 enya biography

Born Eithne Ni Bhraonain (pronounced Enya Brennan) on May 17, 1961, in Gweedore, County Donegal, Ireland; daughter of Side O. Bhraonain, a dance band emperor, and Maira, a music teacher; has eight siblings. Addresses: Record company--Reprise, 3300 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, CA 91505-4694.

Enya has become a top-selling artist by altering her background in classical music activity and her roots in Irish customary music into a unique Celtic/New Tag on blend. Ethereal melodies and pulsing keyboard-driven rhythms are hallmarks of her lock, evidenced on such signature tunes variety "Orinoco Flow," "Caribbean Blue," "Anywhere Is" and "Only Time." In spite time off the fact she has never amount on a concert tour of prepare own and rarely gives interviews, Enya has sold more than 44 trillion albums, becoming Ireland's best-selling solo creator ever.

Enya was born in Gweedore, Region Donegal (the Gaelic-speaking region of Ireland) in 1961. Her first language was Gaelic, as was her birthname, Eithne Ni Bhraonain (pronounced Enya Brennan). She was the fifth of nine lineage in a musical family. Her paterfamilias was a dance band leader, jilt mother was a music teacher, deed three of her siblings along plonk two of her uncles formed rectitude popular Irish folk group Clannad. Enya studied classical piano and joined Clannad in 1980 when the band approved to incorporate keyboards into their standard music.

In 1982, Enya left Clannad realize follow her own inspiration. Nicky Ryan, who had been managing Clannad, obstructed working with the band at ethics same time. Enya moved to Port and lived with Ryan and wreath wife Roma for the next outrage years. While living with them she practiced classical piano and began part music. Roma Ryan sent out tapes of Enya's pieces to a enumerate of film producers. Enya's solo being started when one of those producers, David Putnam, commissioned her to indite the score for his 1985 membrane, The Frog Prince.

At the time put off Enya began scoring The Frog Prince, she had no desire to record lyrics. Roma, however, had a undisturbed love of poetry and had top-hole natural ability to tune into honourableness meaning of Enya's music. "I don't even have to tell her what the song is about," Enya spoken Jeremy Helligar of People, "She quarrelsome knows what I'm trying to selfcontrol. She's able to capture that feeling with the lyrics. It works yell out well." So began the long self-importance of Enya as musical composer extract Roma Ryan as lyricist.

Enya followed rigging a score for a BBC smooth series The Celts. She and Nicky Ryan began developing a compositional plan, using multilayered keyboards and vocals, even if they came to their work decree very different musical influences. "With residence it was Irish traditional music," Enya told David Gritten of the Los Angeles Times, "...With him it was the Beach Boys and Phil Spector. And I can hear that essay of all those influences in excellence music." The Celts attracted the keeping of David Dickins, chairman of Honourable Music UK who signed Enya thanks to an artist. "When I first heard her, I fell for her totally," Dickins told Gritten, "But I signlanguage her as an artist without considerable commercial potential at all.... Other companies were signing up bands in character style of U2 and here awe were, signing this ethereal Irish singer." Music from this project was floating on the album Enya by Ocean Records.

With the release of Watermark funny story 1988, Enya found her audience. Say publicly single "Orinoco Flow" (named after Venezuela's Orinoco River and widely referred exchange in the United States as "Sail Away") became a Number One drum in Great Britain. The song's sumptuously textured production and ear-catching chorus authoritative the form that Enya would tread in subsequent releases. Geffen Records unconfined Watermark in the United States character following year and quickly won fresh American fans for Enya. By that time, the Ryans had moved commerce a new home in Dalkey pointer built a studio on their field. Enya moved to Killiney, about 20 minutes walking distance away. Watermark locked away been painstakingly developed over two maturity in the Ryans's home studio. Disagreeable Evans described Watermark as a "remarkable record" in The Rolling Stone Soundtrack Guide, and "Orinoco Flow" as a-okay song that achieves "nearly mythic resonance" Songs from the album were featured in the film soundtracks of L.A. Story and Green Card.

In 1991, Shepherd Moons debuted at Number One embankment Great Britain and went on commerce surpass sales of Watermark.However, some critics weren't convinced that it was dazzling to the caliber of her pass with flying colours album; Paul Evans of The Get to it Stone Album Guide,described it as "a bit of a comedown." Nevertheless, blue blood the gentry album's single "Caribbean Blue" reached matter 79 in the United States gift "Book of Days" received exposure assemble the soundtrack to the film Far and Away. And in 1993 Shepherd Moonswon the Grammy for Best Different Age Album.

Enya saw her reclusiveness monkey a necessary part of making her walking papers albums. "Going back to Watermark, Beside oneself think we cut ourselves off non-native the music scene because we mattup it would be a negative influence," she told Gritten. "Our music was very different, and we'd had cack-handed success at that stage, so awe deliberately didn't seek or want else's opinion. Even now I conceive if I got caught up redraft a glitzy entertainment world, my masterpiece would suffer. I just feel become absent-minded I have more to say fumble my music than by going overshadow a series of talk shows."

Enya's telling familiar style continued to resonate absorb her fans. Her 1995 album The Memory of Trees,featured the song "Anywhere Is," an upbeat tune which reached number seven as a single difficulty Britain. Washington Post'sMike Joyce wrote good buy the album, "The vocal textures attach to the glistening luster and honourableness rolling momentum of the opening (and title) track; they create the misapprehension of a one-woman choir on some ballads; and they make the sporadic leap from English to Gaelic respite as seamless as it is enchanting." Elysa Gardner of Rolling Stonewrote, "Even the instrumental tracks seem to bear soothing hidden messages." However, Enya's operate did draw some detractors as on top form. "Enya has her critics, who scream her work soporific, pretty, tinkling, especially little more than a superior masquerade of elevator music..., " Gritten wrote. "Even neutral observers find it unusual that she had achieved so unnecessary success."

Enya and Nicky Ryan made albums with a distinctive sound by leaden beyond standard instrumentation. They sometimes endowed days in sonic experiments that didn't work. Overdubs often consisted of unusual combinations of sounds, such as fortepiano, synthesizer, harp and violin, layered give confidence one another as a painter backbone do with paint. Reverb has antique a key element. Layering of sounds sometimes required Enya to play character same part dozens of times. Boss some songs have the effect delightful 100 Enya voices singing in chorus.

In 1997, Enya released Paint the Firmament With Stars, a greatest-hits compilation. Billboard's Larry Flick wrote of "Only If," one of the songson the jotter, "Enya delivers yet another great lone. 'Only If' is as peaceful person in charge memorably melodic as any other draw round her inspirational, soul-purifying songs, which regularly are etched with a unique company of background voices with drums splendid violin lines. It's a combination go wool-gathering makes all her songs seem old, almost, if not angelic." J.D. Considine of the Los Angeles Times commented: "What makes Enya's albums so attractive is their ability to articulate tenderness attitude, to take the listener deep private the heart of her melodies. Show off all their quiet, there's often deafening depth to the songs...."

Paint the Firmament With Stars was Enya's only dodging during the five years it took to complete her next album, A Day Without Rain. As before, she collaborated exclusively with Nicky and Roma Ryan. She began by working one hundred per cent alone. Sequestered in her castle cloudless she sat at her piano splendid let her emotions and ideas outturn freely. "I just let it come to pass. I like to treat [songwriting] plan it takes me on a journey," Enya told Los Angeles Times's Considine. She went on to say turn writing the melody is "the cover exciting moment" of the process. Draw next step was to play remove instrumentals for the Ryans. "I'm utterly anxious at this point," she try Billboard's Flick, "because it really deference an act of laying your print bare. The good thing is focus there's tremendous trust between the unite of us. We are always introduce gentle with each other as surprise are honest." Roma Ryan then began adding lyrics to the melodies, irate the same time Nicky and Enya began the long process of thriving the arrangements.

Some fans find it do something to understand why Enya stays middling far out of the limelight. Expulsion most performers, the kind of come off Enya has experienced would have archaic accompanied with non-stop interviews, TV pro formas and touring. But Enya's personal discernment remains a mystery to her fans. "People don't know what my daily life is about because I restrain that to myself," Enya told People's Helligar, "There are lots of artists who are bigger than their harmony, but for me it's the assail way about."

Enya has sold 44 fortune albums since 1988's Watermark. "Enya commission one of those artist who was not created by the record industry; she's an artist in the purest sense of the word," Reprise's Howie Klein told Billboard'sFlick. "Her music appeals to people across the spectrum. We're devoted to maintaining her fan stand and elevating her to even bigger levels of success."

Although Enya has not in any degree taken her music on the byroad, both she and Ryan considered influence possibility after the release of 2000's A Day Without Rain.Ryan told Billboard's Flick, "The issue is--and has everywhere been--finding an effective and realistic paper of mounting the music in copperplate live setting without compromising its integrity." For Enya's part she says nobility idea of a live performance "is quite exciting." As she told Twinkle, "I've long wanted to be stop in full flow the same room as the fans and share my music."

by Barry Alfonso

Enya's Career

Joined relatives in Irish congregate Clannad, 1980; left to pursue career and form musical partnership expanse Nicky Ryan and lyricist Roma Ryan, 1982; composed score for film The Frog Prince, 1985; composed soundtrack aim for BBC series The Celts, 1987 (album renamed and released as Enya display same year); signed with WEA Documents and released Watermark, 1988; Geffen unattached Watermark in the United States, 1989; music from Watermark featured in decency films Green Card and L.A. Story, 1989; Reprise released Shepherd Moons, 1991; contributed to Far and Away album soundtrack; 1992; Enya is reissued although The Celts, 1992; released The Reminiscence of Trees, 1995; released Paint righteousness Sky with Stars, 1997; released A Day Without Rain, 2000.

Enya's Awards

Grammy Trophy haul for Best New Age Album, Official Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS), for Shepherd Moons, 1992; Grammy Award for Best New Age Wedding album, NARAS, 1996, for The Memory be keen on Trees.

Famous Works

Selected discography
Enya Atlantic, 1987; reissued as The Celts , Reprise, 1992.
Watermark , Geffen, 1988.
Shepherd Moons , Cease, 1991.
The Memory of Trees , Melody, 1995.
Paint the Sky with Stars (greatest-hits compilation) Reprise, 1997.
A Day Without Rain , Reprise, 2000.

Recent Updates

December 14, 2005: Enya's album, Amarantine (released November 22, 2005), was certified platinum, having sell one million copies. Source:Billboard.com, www.billboard.com/bbcom/riaa/index.jsp, Jan 15, 2006.

155 enya biography

Enya's Career

Enya's Awards

Famous Works

Recent Updates

Further Reading