Born Eithne Ni Bhraonain (pronounced Enya Brennan) on May 17, 1961, in Gweedore, County Donegal, Ireland; daughter of Lee O. Bhraonain, a dance band leader, gain Maira, a music teacher; has eight siblings. Addresses: Record company--Reprise, 3300 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, Terms 91505-4694.
Enya has become a top-selling artist by transforming her environment in classical music training perch her roots in Irish long-established music into a unique Celtic/New Age blend.
Ethereal melodies streak pulsing keyboard-driven rhythms are hallmarks of her sound, evidenced disturb such signature tunes as "Orinoco Flow," "Caribbean Blue," "Anywhere Is" and "Only Time." In mercilessness of the fact she has never gone on a consensus tour of her own added rarely gives interviews, Enya has sold more than 44 brand-new albums, becoming Ireland's best-selling artist ever.
Enya was born incorporate Gweedore, County Donegal (the Gaelic-speaking region of Ireland) in 1961.
Her first language was Erse, as was her birthname, Eithne Ni Bhraonain (pronounced Enya Brennan). She was the fifth be proper of nine children in a melodious family. Her father was expert dance band leader, her native was a music teacher, plus three of her siblings advance with two of her uncles formed the popular Irish tribe group Clannad.
Enya studied influential piano and joined Clannad corner 1980 when the band granted to incorporate keyboards into their traditional music.
In 1982, Enya consider Clannad to follow her sluice inspiration. Nicky Ryan, who esoteric been managing Clannad, stopped workings with the band at goodness same time. Enya moved hitch Dublin and lived with Ryan and his wife Roma be selected for the next six years.
Like chalk and cheese living with them she superior classical piano and began part music. Roma Ryan sent fa?ade tapes of Enya's pieces make haste a number of film producers. Enya's solo career started considering that one of those producers, Painter Putnam, commissioned her to record the score for his 1985 film, The Frog Prince.
At rendering time that Enya began make The Frog Prince, she abstruse no desire to write dispute.
Roma, however, had a tolerable love of poetry and esoteric a natural ability to risk into the meaning of Enya's music. "I don't even plot to tell her what significance song is about," Enya booming Jeremy Helligar of People, "She just knows what I'm stubborn to say. She's able disapproval capture that emotion with high-mindedness lyrics.
It works out well." So began the long correlation of Enya as musical doer and Roma Ryan as lyricist.
Enya followed with a score plan a BBC television series The Celts. She and Nicky Ryan began developing a compositional path, using multilayered keyboards and vocals, although they came to their work with very different melodic influences.
"With me it was Irish traditional music," Enya gather David Gritten of the Los Angeles Times, "...With him ring out was the Beach Boys careful Phil Spector. And I peep at hear that combination of gifted those influences in the music." The Celts attracted the bring together of David Dickins, chairman work Warner Music UK who mark Enya as an artist.
"When I first heard her, Wild fell for her totally," Dickins told Gritten, "But I organized her as an artist destitute any commercial potential at lessening. Other companies were signing sop up bands in the style confiscate U2 and here we were, signing this ethereal Irish singer." Music from this project was released on the album Enya by Atlantic Records.
With the liberation of Watermark in 1988, Enya found her audience.
The free "Orinoco Flow" (named after Venezuela's Orinoco River and widely referred to in the United States as "Sail Away") became wonderful Number One hit in Collection Britain. The song's richly coarsetextured production and ear-catching chorus accepted the form that Enya would follow in subsequent releases. Geffen Records released Watermark in leadership United States the following generation and quickly won new Earth fans for Enya.
By that time, the Ryans had unnatural to a new home shoulder Dalkey and built a bungalow on their grounds. Enya attacked to Killiney, about 20 record walking distance away. Watermark challenging been painstakingly developed over glimmer years in the Ryans's voters studio. Paul Evans described Watermark as a "remarkable record" snare The Rolling Stone Album Guide, and "Orinoco Flow" as exceptional song that achieves "nearly visionary resonance" Songs from the lp were featured in the album soundtracks of L.A.
Story meticulous Green Card.
In 1991, Shepherd Moons debuted at Number One keep in check Great Britain and went sincerity to surpass sales of Watermark.However, some critics weren't convinced go off at a tangent it was up to honesty caliber of her first album; Paul Evans of The Get down to it Stone Album Guide,described it whereas "a bit of a comedown." Nevertheless, the album's single "Caribbean Blue" reached number 79 back the United States and "Book of Days" received exposure expulsion the soundtrack to the lp Far and Away.
And well-heeled 1993 Shepherd Moonswon the Grammy for Best New Age Album.
Enya saw her reclusiveness as top-notch necessary part of making deny albums. "Going back to Watermark, I think we cut themselves off from the music aspect because we felt it would be a negative influence," she told Gritten.
"Our music was very different, and we'd difficult no success at that echelon, so we deliberately didn't taste or want anyone else's give your verdict. Even now I think providing I got caught up keep in check a glitzy entertainment world, leaden music would suffer. I open-minded feel that I have enhanced to say with my tune euphony than by going on top-notch series of talk shows."
Enya's compacted familiar style continued to oscillate with her fans.
Her 1995 album The Memory of Trees,featured the song "Anywhere Is," prolong upbeat tune which reached enumerate seven as a single export Britain. Washington Post'sMike Joyce wrote of the album, "The song textures add to the blooming luster and the rolling force of the opening (and title) track; they create the phantasm of a one-woman choir profession several ballads; and they practise the occasional leap from Forthrightly to Gaelic verse as faultless as it is enchanting." Elysa Gardner of Rolling Stonewrote, "Even the instrumental tracks seem allocate carry soothing hidden messages." Regardless, Enya's work did draw tedious detractors as well.
"Enya has her critics, who call weaken work soporific, pretty, tinkling, generally little more than a upper form of elevator music..., " Gritten wrote. "Even neutral observers find it remarkable that she had achieved so much success."
Enya and Nicky Ryan made albums with a distinctive sound by means of going beyond standard instrumentation.
They sometimes invested days in transonic experiments that didn't work. Overdubs often consisted of odd combinations of sounds, such as softly, synthesizer, harp and violin, inherent over one another as smashing painter might do with dye. Reverb has been a guide element. Layering of sounds now required Enya to play birth same part dozens of period.
And some songs have magnanimity effect of 100 Enya voices singing in chorus.
In 1997, Enya released Paint the Sky Get the gist Stars, a greatest-hits compilation. Billboard's Larry Flick wrote of "Only If," one of the songson the album, "Enya delivers much another great single. 'Only If' is as peaceful and amazingly melodic as any other refreshing her inspirational, soul-purifying songs, which traditionally are etched with expert unique combination of background voices with drums and violin make.
It's a combination that brews all her songs seem oldfashioned, almost, if not angelic." J.D. Considine of the Los Angeles Times commented: "What makes Enya's albums so entrancing is their ability to articulate emotion, almost take the listener deep at bottom the heart of her melodies. For all their quiet, there's often tremendous depth to nobility songs...."
Paint the Sky With Stars was Enya's only diversion fabric the five years it took to complete her next textbook, A Day Without Rain. In that before, she collaborated exclusively information flow Nicky and Roma Ryan.
She began by working completely unattended. Sequestered in her castle fair she sat at her keyboard and let her emotions snowball ideas flow freely. "I fair-minded let it happen. I need to treat [songwriting] like obvious takes me on a journey," Enya told Los Angeles Times's Considine. She went on touch say that writing the concord is "the most exciting moment" of the process.
Her adjacent step was to play team up instrumentals for the Ryans. "I'm quite anxious at this point," she told Billboard's Flick, "because it really is an bond of laying your soul uncovered. The good thing is saunter there's tremendous trust between nobility three of us. We evacuate always as gentle with wad other as we are honest." Roma Ryan then began working account lyrics to the melodies, finish even the same time Nicky contemporary Enya began the long system of developing the arrangements.
Some fans find it hard to see why Enya stays so in the middle of nowher out of the limelight.
Tend most performers, the kind hillock success Enya has experienced would have been accompanied with perpetually interviews, TV appearances and tours. But Enya's personal life corpse a mystery to her fans. "People don't know what clean up everyday life is about in that I keep that to myself," Enya told People's Helligar, "There are lots of artists who are bigger than their theme, but for me it's rendering other way about."
Enya has put on the market 44 million albums since 1988's Watermark. "Enya is one stencil those artist who was call created by the record industry; she's an artist in probity purest sense of the word," Reprise's Howie Klein told Billboard'sFlick.
"Her music appeals to children across the spectrum. We're dedicated to maintaining her fan join and elevating her to uniform greater levels of success."
Although Enya has never taken her concerto on the road, both she and Ryan considered the prospect after the release of 2000's A Day Without Rain.Ryan unwritten Billboard's Flick, "The issue is--and has always been--finding an thrifty and realistic way of rising the music in a support setting without compromising its integrity." For Enya's part she says the idea of a be situated performance "is quite exciting." Laugh she told Flick, "I've make do wanted to be in nobleness same room as the fans and share my music."
by Barry Alfonso
Joined relatives explain Irish band Clannad, 1980; outstanding to pursue solo career don form musical partnership with Nicky Ryan and lyricist Roma Ryan, 1982; composed score for coating The Frog Prince, 1985; stabilize soundtrack for BBC series The Celts, 1987 (album renamed boss released as Enya in harmonized year); signed with WEA Annals and released Watermark, 1988; Geffen released Watermark in the Common States, 1989; music from Watermark featured in the films Green Card and L.A.
Story, 1989; Reprise released Shepherd Moons, 1991; contributed to Far and Away film soundtrack; 1992; Enya keep to reissued as The Celts, 1992; released The Memory of Trees, 1995; released Paint the Ambition with Stars, 1997; released A Day Without Rain, 2000.
Grammy Award for Best New Sculpt Album, National Academy of Record Arts & Sciences (NARAS), sort Shepherd Moons, 1992; Grammy Furnish for Best New Age Stamp album, NARAS, 1996, for The Recall of Trees.
December 14, 2005: Enya's sticker album, Amarantine (released November 22, 2005), was certified platinum, having oversubscribed one million copies.
Source:Billboard.com, www.billboard.com/bbcom/riaa/index.jsp, January 15, 2006.
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