She began her musical career in 1980, when she briefly joined her family band Clannad, before leaving to perform solo. She gained wider recognition for her music in the 1986 BBC series ''The Celts''. Shortly afterwards, her 1988 album ''Watermark'' propelled her to further international fame and she became known for her unique sound, characterised by voice-layering, folk melodies, synthesised backdrops and ethereal reverberations.

She continued to enjoy steady success during the 1990s and 2000s; her 2000 album ''A Day Without Rain'' sold 15 million copies and she was named the world's best selling female artist of 2001. She is Ireland's best-selling solo musician and is officially the country's second-largest musical export after the band U2. Her album sales were more than 75 million worldwide, with over 26 million in album sales in the US. Her work has earned her four Grammy awards and an Academy Award nomination. She has performed works in 10 languages.

Life and career

1961–1983: Musical upbringing and Clannad

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. In 1980, Enya worked with Clannad, the band composed of her siblings Máire (Moya), Pól, and Ciarán and twin uncles Noel and Pádraig Duggan. Enya played the keyboard and provided backing vocals on their album ''Crann Úll'' (1980), although she was not officially a member of the group until the 1981 release ''Fuaim'', when she appeared on the cover. During that same year, Enya was also a member of Ragairne, the band of Altan front-woman Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh. 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".

1984–1987: Career beginnings

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. 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).

1988–1999: International breakthrough

Three years later she followed with another hit album, ''Shepherd Moons'', which sold twelve 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" is also featured on the soundtrack to the Robin Williams feature film ''Toys'', while the 1990 feature film ''Green Card'' features "River", "Watermark", and "Storms In Africa". "Book Of Days" was featured prominently in the movie ''Far and Away'', with an English-lyric version created for the film then replacing the old Irish language version on all pressings of the ''Shepherd Moons'' album from 1993 onwards. In 1993, her recording of "Marble Halls" from ''Shepherd Moons'' was featured in the Martin Scorsese film, ''The Age of Innocence''.

In 1992 a re-mastered version of the ''Enya'' album was released as ''The Celts'' including a longer, modified version of "Portrait", which was re-named "Portrait (Out of the Blue)".

Four years after ''Shepherd Moons'' she released ''The Memory of Trees'' (1995), another Top Five success in both the UK and Germany, as well as her first Top 10 album in the U.S. 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'', again a top five smash in the UK and Germany, 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 feature film ''Titanic'', but she declined. A 1989 recording of Enya singing "Oíche Chiúin", an Irish language version of "Silent Night", has been reissued at least twice: on ''The Christmas EP'' (which otherwise contains several non-holiday related previously issued recordings by Enya) and the 1997 edition of the charity album ''A Very Special Christmas''.

Ansett Australia extensively used "Storms in Africa" for promotional purposes when the airline re-branded itself in the 1990s. The 1992 film ''Sleepwalkers'' features "Boadicea" as the film's signature tune.

Enya was the subject in the song "Pumping Iron for Enya" by Atom and His Package on their 1999 album ''Making Love''.

2000–2004

After the September 11, 2001 attacks "Only Time" was used as a soundtrack in many radio and television reports about the attacks. Enya released a special edition of the song, and a maxi single was issued on 20 November 2001 featuring a pop mix, with proceeds donated to the families of victims. "Only Time" peaked at number 10 on the U.S. Hot 100, number 12 on the Pop Chart and hit number one on the Adult Contemporary and Hot Adult Contemporary charts. In Germany, "Only Time" re-entered the German single charts at number 1 and the album ''A Day Without Rain'' reached number one some weeks later.

Enya won the Echo Award for best selling international single in Germany of 2001, and received a nomination for best selling album.

In 2001 Enya recorded "May It Be", which was featured in the first installment of ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy, ''Fellowship of the Ring'', and was her second consecutive single to enter the German charts at number one. The video features scenes from the Peter Jackson film.

Enya, self-admittedly, composes music slowly. A new song called "Sumiregusa" ("Wild Violet") was based on a Japanese poem by Roma Ryan. In September 2004, the song was used in Japan as part of an advertising campaign for Panasonic. Warner Music Japan stated that Enya's next album was scheduled for release in Japan 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.

2005 to present

In 2006 Enya released several Christmas-themed CDs with newly recorded material. On 10 October 2006 ''Sounds of the Season: The Enya Holiday Collection'' 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.

In late November two new editions of ''Amarantine'' were released. In the UK it was reissued as ''Christmas Edit: Amarantine'' 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 U.S. received a special version of this release (''Amarantine - Deluxe Collector's 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 contained only the four new songs.

By mid-2007 Enya claimed to have sold 80 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 29 June 2007 Enya received an honorary doctorate from the National University of Ireland, Galway. Shortly after, on 10 July 2007, Enya received a second honorary doctorate from the University of Ulster.

November 2008 saw the release of ''And Winter Came'' with a new video for the song "Trains and Winter Rains". This album follows her passion for the Christmas holiday season and features her playing a guitar in the song "My! My! Time Flies!" and a chorale version of her previously released "Oíche Chiúin". She promoted the album on morning news shows and performing some songs live.

In March 2009 Warner Music Japan released Enya's first 4 albums in a new format, called SHM-CD. On 23 November 2009 Enya released a new album called ''The Very Best of Enya''. It includes most of her hits from 1988 to 2008. In 2010, singer Rihanna sampled Enya's song "One By One" on a song from her new album ''Loud''.

In a May 2011 interview Enya's manager said that she is working on a new album and will likely tour to support it, with part of the recording taking place in Abbey Road studios in London.

Musical style and other projects

Her signature sound uses simple arrangements with extensive multi-tracking vocals. The vocals are each performed individually, and are layered together to form a virtual choir, although all the voices are Enya herself. In "Cursum Perficio" of the album ''Watermark'', Enya reaches a C an octave below middle C. Later in the piece, she sings a high A-flat above the treble clef. Enya's vocal range is mezzo-soprano.

On the album ''Amarantine'' Enya sings in Japanese and Loxian, a language invented by Roma Ryan. The vocabulary is formed by Enya singing the notes to which Roma provides the phonetic writing. There is no official syntax for Loxian. While most of her songs are sung in English, some of Enya's songs are sung entirely in Irish or Latin. 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 several songs relating to J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'', including 1991's "Lothlórien" (instrumental), and 2001's "May It Be" (sung in English and Quenya), and "Aníron" (in Sindarin)—the latter two, which she composed, appearing in Peter Jackson's movie ''The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring'' and its soundtrack album. "May It Be" was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Enya's performances are "semi-live", using playback music and singing. She has given 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 does not 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".

Discography

This is only a partial listing of albums produced by Enya. ;Studio albums

DVD releases

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) fan sites reported that a dispute over the sound quality of the release led to it being withdrawn.

Bootleg copies from Asia have circulated at the retail level in some parts of Region 1 since 2000. As late as 2005 online retailers such as Amazon.com continued to list the DVD as "coming soon".

In November 2009 the deluxe version of the compilation release ''The Very Best of Enya'' included a DVD bonus disc containing most (but not all) of the music videos from the 2001 release, along with the documentaries from that release, and videos from Enya's post-2001 albums. This time the release of the DVD (formatted as Region 0) included North America.

Personal life

Beginning with ''Watermark'', Enya began to attract the attention of stalkers, several of whom succeeded in breaking into her castle and attacking some of the staff. As a result Enya spent 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''). In 1996, a 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 Irish entertainers with an estimated fortune of €109 million (i.e., £75 million or US$165 million). This was enough to take her to number 95 in the Sunday Times Rich List 2006 of the 250 Wealthiest Irish People.

While some critics have labeled her music as a fusion of "Celtic new age" and "world music," Enya believes this is because they are not familiar with her background. "My influences are with Irish music, church music and classical music," she says in a 1997 interview. "When I was growing up, I was listening to quite a lot of diverse music, and I was lucky that it wasn't just one particular type of music." Enya was raised Catholic and her faith continues to inspire her music. "It's difficult when you've been brought up Catholic," Enya says, "to turn completely away from it. What I found in my twenties was I got more involved with the spiritual side of it. I've been known to go to church when there's nobody else there. It's very therapeutic when it's quite empty. It's so hard in a moment of despair not to say a prayer. Instead of abandoning (Catholicism), which is impossible to do, I kind of tried to turn it around and make it work for me. There is this calmness that is absolutely wonderful." In 2000, she further explains how she makes Catholicism work for her: "I consider myself to be a spiritual person, not necessarily a religious one, although I have to say that one of the highlights of my career was when I performed at the Vatican for the Pope and had an audience with him. My core beliefs would revolve around the idea that we should live to the best of our abilities -- we should live and let live."

In addition to performing for the Pope, the singer participated in a live broadcast on British television for Christmas Eve in 1997, before she flew home to County Donegal to join her family at midnight Mass. She still sings in her mother's choir every Christmas at midnight Mass, at St. Mary's Church.

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 twelve. It was just bliss. They'd all lie around in the sun and then come up and climb around my neck." Her favourite classical composer is Sergei Rachmaninoff. Her hobbies include watching romantic black-and-white films, collecting artwork, reading, and watercolour painting. To this day, Enya's father runs Leo's Tavern; a pub in Meenaleck, West Donegal, where she and her siblings launched their careers. Thousands of fans visit the pub hoping to meet her, but she rarely makes an appearance there. She only visits her family, who still live in Gweedore, for Christmas and her birthday. She lives in a castle mansion in Killiney, South Dublin.

Music videos

Notable awards

#Grammy Awards of 1993, Best New Age Album for ''Shepherd Moons'' #Grammy Awards of 1997, Best New Age Album for ''The Memory of Trees'' #Grammy Awards of 2002, Best New Age Album for ''A Day Without Rain'' #Grammy Awards of 2007, Best New Age Album for ''Amarantine''

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

See also

References

External links

Category:1961 births Category:Celtic fusion musicians Category:Clannad members Category:Enya Category:Irish-language singers Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Gweedore Category:Irish female singers Category:Irish folk singers Category:Irish mezzo-sopranos Category:Irish pop singers Category:Irish singer-songwriters Category:English-language singers Category:Latin-language singers Category:Living people Category:New Age musicians Category:People associated with Dalkey Category:People from County Donegal Category:Warner Music Group artists Category:Women composers Category:World Music Awards winners Category:Irish Roman Catholics

Esau Mwamwaya was born in Mzuzu, Malawi, but grew up in the capital, Lilongwe, where he played drums in various bands. He played with numerous artists including Masaka Band and Evison Matafale.

In 1999 he moved to London and while running a second-hand furniture shop in Clapton, East London, Esau sold a bicycle to the producer from the band Radioclit, Etienne Tron. Radioclit's studio was on the same street as Esau's shop, and eventually, Esau became friends with both Tron and Johan Karlberg aka Radioclit.

On the heels of the mixtape, The Very Best produced their first full-length album, Warm Heart of Africa, released digitally in August 2009 and released physically in October 2009 by GREEN OWL and Moshi Moshi. The album features collaborations with Ezra Koenig and M.I.A. (artist)

The Very Best is also featured on a track on Crookers debut album, Tons of Friends.

Winner of 9th Annual Independent Music Awards: World Beat song for "Warm Heart of Africa" featuring Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig

Discography

The Very Best

References

External links

Category:Malawian musicians Category:Living people