Enya

 

 

Enya (born Eithne Patricia Ní Bhraonáin on 17 May 1961, Gweedore, County Donegal, Ireland), sometimes presented in the media as Enya Brennan, is an Irish singer and songwriter. She is Ireland's best-selling solo artist and her works have earned her four Grammy Awards and an Academy Award nomination. As a musical group, Enya represents a partnership between three people: Enya herself, who composes and performs the music; Nicky Ryan, who produces the albums, and Roma Ryan, who writes the lyrics in various languages. Enya is an approximate transcription of how Eithne is pronounced in her native Irish, in the Donegal dialect.

Biography

Musical upbringing and Clannad

Enya was born in Gweedore, County Donegal, in Ireland in 1961 to a musical family, the sixth of nine children. Her grandparents were in a band that played throughout Ireland, her father was the leader of the Slieve Foy Band before opening a pub, and her mother played in a dance band and later taught music at the Gweedore Comprehensive School. Enya has four brothers and four sisters, several of whom formed the band An Clann As Dobhar in 1968. They renamed the band Clannad in the 1970s.


Enya on the cover of Clannad's 1981 album "Fuaim".
In 1980, Enya worked with Clannad, the band composed of her siblings Máire (Moya), Pól, and Ciarán and twin uncles Noel and Padraig Duggan. Enya played the keyboard and provided backing vocals on their albums Crann Úll (1980) and Fuaim (1981), although she was never officially a member of the group. In 1982, shortly before Clannad became famous for "Theme From Harry's Game," producer and manager Nicky Ryan left the group and Enya joined him to start her own solo career. Enya then formed her own recording studio, named "Aigle", which is French for "Eagle".

Solo career

Enya recorded two solo instrumental songs called "An Ghaoth Ón Ghrian" ("The Solar Wind") and "Miss Clare Remembers" that were released on the 1983 album Touch Travel. She was first credited as Enya (as opposed to Eithne) for writing some of the music for the 1984 movie The Frog Prince, which was released on a soundtrack album of the same title. Another early appearance on record followed in 1987, where Enya provided spoken (not sung) vocals on Sinéad O'Connor's debut album, The Lion and the Cobra. The title of the album is a partial English translation of Enya's Gaelic reading of Psalms 91:11-13 on the song "Never Get Old".
Enya was contracted to provide music for the soundtrack of the 1986 BBC television documentary The Celts. The music she produced was featured on her first solo album, Enya (1987), but it attracted little attention at the time. The B-Side single "Eclipse" is actually a reversed and modified version of Enya's song "Deireadh An Tuath", from this 1987 album 'Enya'. The song "Boadicea", also from this album, would later be sampled by The Fugees on their single "Ready or Not" (1996), causing a brief stir because the group neither sought permission from Enya nor gave her credit initially, and by Mario Winans, who did give her credit (the Winans track, "I Don't Wanna Know" which features a rap by P. Diddy and is officially credited to all three artists, became Enya's highest charting single in the US, when it peaked at #2 on the Hot 100 in 2004).

International breakthrough

Enya achieved a breakthrough in her career in 1988 with the album Watermark, which featured the hit song "Orinoco Flow" (sometimes known as "Sail Away"). "Orinoco Flow", reported to be named after Orinoco Studios (now Miloco Studios) where it was conceived, topped the charts in the United Kingdom, and the album sold eight million copies.
Three years later, she followed with another hit album, Shepherd Moons, which sold ten million copies and earned Enya her first Grammy Award. The songs "On Your Shore" and "Exile" (from Watermark) and "Epona" (from Enya) were featured in the 1991 film L.A. Story. "Ebudae" was also featured on the soundtrack to the Robin Williams film Toys, while the 1990 film Green Card had "River", "Watermark", and "Storms In Africa". "Book Of Days" was featured prominently in the movie Far and Away.
In 1992, a re-mastered version of the Enya album was released as The Celts including a longer, modified version of "Portrait (Out of the Blue)". Four years after Shepherd Moons, she released the Grammy-winning The Memory of Trees (1995). Singles released from the album were "Anywhere Is" and "On My Way Home".
In 1997, Enya released her greatest hits collection, Paint The Sky With Stars: The Best of Enya, which featured two new songs: "Paint the Sky With Stars" and "Only If..."; "Only If..." later became a single. ("Only If You Want To", is an early version of "Only If...". It appears on a promotional Japanese CD called, The Best of Enya, and does not include the French lyrics.) She was offered the chance to compose the score for James Cameron's 1997 film Titanic, but declined. The eventual choice of Norwegian vocalist Sissel Kyrkjebø, whose style is similar to Enya's, resulted in work that some sources erroneously credited to Enya, although in interviews, the songs were officially credited as the sound of Clannad. A 1989 recording of Enya singing an Irish Language version of "Silent Night" ("Oíche Chiúin") has been reissued many times over the years, including The Christmas EP (which otherwise contained several non-holiday related previously issued recordings by Enya) and the 1997 edition of the charity album A Very Special Christmas.

Return and 'A Day Without Rain'

Following a five-year break, she released the Grammy winning A Day Without Rain in 2000 featuring 37 minutes of new material (34 minutes on the US version). The album is Enya's most successful to date, peaking at #2 on the US Billboard Album charts. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, her song "Only Time" (from A Day Without Rain) was used as a backdrop in many radio and TV reports about the attacks. She initially frowned upon this use, especially when many bootlegged versions of "Only Time" mixed with sound effects from the attack began to appear.
Enya eventually agreed to release a special edition of the song with funds going to the families of victims. Many Enya fans, however, are resentful that her music has been linked with the attacks; an example of this occurred on a 2002 appearance on CNN's Larry King Live when images of battle in Afghanistan were shown on screen as she performed "May It Be," a song with little war connection.
Enya is self-admittedly a slow worker when it comes to composing music.[citation needed] As a result, fans have had to wait as long as five years between albums. A new song called "Sumiregusa" ("Wild Violet") was set to words from a Japanese poem Roma Ryan had written. In September 2004, the song was unveiled in Japan as part of an advertising campaign for Panasonic. In announcing the new recording, Warner Music Japan stated that Enya's next album was scheduled for release (in Japan at least) in mid-November. Enya issued a press release on her official Web site on 19 September stating that this was a mistake and no new album was immediately forthcoming.

Recent activity

In November of 2005, a new album, entitled Amarantine, was released. It won the Grammy Award for Best New Age Album for 2007.
In 2006, Enya released several Christmas-themed CDs with newly recorded material. On October 10, 2006, Sounds of the Season was released containing six songs: the previously released "Oíche Chiúin" (a.k.a. "Silent Night") and "Amid the Falling Snow", new recordings of the standards "Adeste Fideles" (a.k.a. "Oh Come All Ye Faithful") and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" as well as two original songs, "Christmas Secrets" and "The Magic of the Night". This CD was released only in the United States in an exclusive partnership with the NBC television network and the Target department store chain.
Enya was awarded the World's Best-Selling Irish Act award at the World Music Awards in London on 19 November 2006. On February 11, 2007 Amarantine won Enya her fourth Grammy when it was awarded the Best New Age Album award.
In late November, two new editions of Amarantine were released. In North America, it was reissued as Amarantine - Special Christmas Edition with a second disc containing the four new Christmas songs previously issued on Sounds of the Season (the original album already had "Amid the Falling Snow" while "Oíche Chiúin" is a recording dating back to 1988, which had already been featured on numerous collections). The UK received a deluxe version of this release (Amarantine - The UK Special Edition) which also included three postcards and a copy of Roma Ryan's book Water Shows the Hidden Heart which is referenced on the original album. Canadian fans could choose from the Special Christmas Edition of Amarantine, or an EP entitled Christmas Secrets, which only contained the four new songs.
Coinciding with these releases was the re-launch of Enya's official website on November 2, 2006. On November 16, 2006, Enya mentioned on ITV1's that she is working on a new album. A month later, in a Japanese interview Enya said that the album will be a complete Christmas album and it will be released in the winter of 2007. There is no schedule for the release date itself. [citation needed]
As of mid-2007, Enya has claimed to have sold 70 million albums. An American businessperson has coined the phrase "enyanomics" to explain Enya's ability to sell millions of records without giving any live performances.
On June 29, 2007, Enya received an honorary doctorate from the National University of Ireland, Galway. The ceremony for six total recipients (Enya as one recipient) was held at noon. Shortly after, in July 10, 2007, (date also stated at Enya's official website under News) Enya received a second honorary doctorate from the University of Ulster.

 

Musical style and other projects

Much of her music shows influence of some Irish music and classical music.
Enya performs all percussion, instruments, and vocals in her pieces unless specified. Although there are certain pieces where acoustic instruments are featured, almost all sounds of her pieces are created by a synthesizer, specifically the Roland D-50. [citation needed] Her trademark sound is achieved by layering her voice as much as eighty times. She has stated in an interview that she has once dubbed her voice to about five hundred times. The vocals are each performed individually, and is layered together to form a virtual choir, although all the voices are Enya herself. Enya can be classified as a mezzo-soprano with an alto range. (In Cursum Perficio of the album Watermark, she reaches a C an octave below middle C. Later in the piece, she sings a high A-flat above the treble clef. By this, it classifies her as a mezzo-soprano with an extended lower range.)
On her latest album, Amarantine, Enya sings in Japanese and Loxian, a language invented by Roma Ryan. A number of Enya's songs are sung entirely in Irish or Latin, while most of her songs are sung in English. Enya has also sung songs written entirely or partially in Welsh, Spanish, French, and even languages created by J. R. R. Tolkien. Enya has performed songs relating to J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, including 1991's "Lothlórien" (instrumental), 2001's "May It Be" (sung in English and Quenya), and "Aníron" (in Sindarin)—the last two which she composed appearing on the soundtrack of Peter Jackson's movie The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
Enya has given several live performances on various television shows, events and ceremonies (her most recent appearance was in Gaoth Dobhair in the summer of 2005, which coincided with a tribute event to the Brennan family that took place in Letterkenny), but she has yet to do a concert. She has said, though, that she would love to do it someday, and would consider it a great challenge.
Although her Grammys were for "Best New Age Album", Enya does not personally classify her music as belonging to the New Age genre. When asked what genre she would classify her music as belonging to, she would reply, "Enya."

 

Selected discography

Albums

Title + US Chart Positions

1. Enya (1987) 500,000 sales
2. Watermark US#25 (1988) 9m sales
3. Shepherd Moons US#17 (1991) 10.5m sales
4. The Celts (1992) 6.7m sales
5. The Memory of Trees US#9 (1995)9.8m sales
6. Paint the Sky with Stars US#30 (1997) 4.5m sales
7. A Day Without Rain US#2 (2000) 14m sales
8. Amarantine US#6 (2005; expanded edition released 2006) 6m sales

DVD releases

In 2000, Warner Music released Enya: The Video Collection on DVD in Europe, South Africa and Asia, collecting all her videos from "Orinoco Flow" up to and including "Wild Child", except for the video from "Book of Days", which was replaced by a live TV performance due to licensing complications relating to the video's use of footage from the film Far and Away. This release was a successor to an earlier collection of videos entitled Moonshadows, which was released on VHS and laserdisc in 1992. The DVD release also included interviews and features on the making of two videos.
A North American (Region 1) release of the Video Collection DVD was announced on several occasions during 2000-2001, but it did not occur; the reason for which has never been officially stated. At one point it was announced that the release had been delayed in order to allow the inclusion of the video for "May it Be", while the (now defunct) Enya.org fan site reported that a dispute over the sound quality of the release led to it being withdrawn.
As of 2005, The Collection was still considered to be "coming soon" by some North American online retailers although bootleg copies from Asia have circulated at the retail level in some parts of Region 1 since 2000. Despite the release of a new CD by Enya in November 2005, the Region 1 edition of the DVD collection remains in limbo and there has been no announcement of an updated DVD release in other parts of the world.
As of 2007, the only official release of an Enya video on DVD in North America has been "May it Be" which was included on the DVD release for The Fellowship of the Ring.

 

Personal life

Enya is a very private person who tries to keep her personal life apart from her musical career, even spending an estimated €250,000 on security measures for her home, Manderley Castle in Killiney, County Dublin (named after Maxim de Winter's house in her favourite book and black and white movie, Rebecca). Despite this, around mid-August 2005, there were two separate security breaches at Enya's home, and she was present on both occasions (her security system includes a panic room). In 1996 an Italian man, who had been seen in Dublin wearing her photograph around his neck, stabbed himself after being ejected from her parents' pub in Gweedore, County Donegal.
In 2006, Enya made it to the number three spot in the ranks of wealthy UK and Irish entertainers with an estimated fortune of €109 million (i.e., £75 million or US$136 million). This was enough to take her to number 95 in the Sunday Times Rich List 2006 of the 250 Wealthiest Irish People.

Hobbies

Enya loves cats. In an interview published in 1988, when asked about pets, she replied: "I've got a cat. I love cats; at one stage I had 12. It was just bliss. They'd all lie around in the sun and then come up and climb around my neck."
Enya's favorite classical composer is Sergei Rachmaninoff. Her hobbies include watching romantic black and white films, collecting artwork, reading, and painting.

 

Notable awards

Enya has won four Grammy Awards for Best New Age Album to date:

1. Grammy Awards of 1993, Best New Age Album for Shepherd Moons

2. Grammy Awards of 1997, Best New Age Album for The Memory of Trees

3. Grammy Awards of 2002, Best New Age Album for A Day Without Rain

4. Grammy Awards of 2007, Best New Age Album for Amarantine

Also, "May It Be" was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song at the 2002 ceremonies, but it lost to Randy Newman's "If I Didn't Have You" from Monsters, Inc.