Enya
Biography
With her blend of folk melodies, synthesized backdrops, and classical motifs, Enya created a distinctive style that more closely resembled new age than the folk and Celtic music that provided her initial influences. Enya is from Gweedore, County Donegal, Ireland, which she left in 1980 to join the Irish band Clannad, the group that already featured her older brothers and sisters. She stayed with Clannad for two years, then left, hooking up with producer Nicky Ryan and lyricist Roma Ryan, with whom she recorded film and television scores. The result was a successful album of TV music for the BBC. Enya then recorded Watermark (1988), which featured her distinctive, flowing music and multi-overdubbed trancelike singing; the album sold four million copies worldwide. Watermark established Enya as an international star and launched a successful career that lasted well into the '90s.
Enya (born Eithne Ní Bhraonáin) was born into a musical family. Her father, Leo Brennan, was the leader of the Slieve Foy Band, a popular Irish show band; her mother was an amateur musician. Most important to Enya's career were her siblings, who formed Clannad in 1976 with several of their uncles. Enya joined the band as a keyboardist in 1979 and contributed to several of the group's popular television soundtracks. In 1982, she left Clannad, claiming that she was uninterested in following the pop direction the group had begun to pursue. Within a few years, she was commissioned, along with producer/arranger Nicky Ryan and lyricist Roma Ryan, to provide the score for a BBC-TV series called The Celts. The soundtrack was released in 1986 as her eponymous solo album.
Enya didn't receive much notice, but Enya and the Ryans' second effort, Watermark, became a surprise hit upon its release in 1988. "Orinoco Flow," the first single, became a number one hit in Britain, helping the album eventually sell eight million copies worldwide. Enya spent the years following the success of Watermark rather quietly; her most notable appearance was a cameo on Sinéad O'Connor's I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got. She finally released Shepherd Moons, her follow-up to Watermark, in 1991. Shepherd Moons was even more successful than its predecessor, eventually selling over ten million copies worldwide; it entered the U.S. charts at number 17 and remained in the Top 200 for almost four years.
Again, Enya was slow to follow up on the success of Shepherd Moons, spending nearly four years working on her fourth album. The record, entitled Memory of Trees, was released in December 1995. Memory of Trees entered the U.S. charts at number nine and sold over two million copies within its first year of release. In 1997 came the release of a greatest-hits collection, Paint the Sky with Stars: The Best of Enya, which featured two new songs. Enya's first album of new material in five years, Day Without Rain, was released in late 2000. In 2002, she contributed material to the first film in Peter Jackson's award-winning Lord of the Rings trilogy, scoring a hit with the single "May It Be." Amarantine, her first full-length recording since Day Without Rain, followed in November 2005. A holiday EP, Christmas Secrets, arrived in 2006, followed by an all new, full-length collection of original seasonal music called And Winter Came in 2008. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine & William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
Selected Discography

Amarantine (CD Single)
2005

Amarantine
2005

A Day Without Rain
2000

Paint The Sky With Stars
1997

The Memory Of Trees
1995

Shepherd Moons
1991

Watermark
1988
sweet stuff when i need to sit back and relax. shes got a bunch of records out and rhats good.
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I <3 her so much!! She has such a pretty voice, I only have 2 of her albums(Paint the sky with stars, and And Winter Came) and i have one from the library now(Armantin e ) . . . b u t I wish I had more. She's one of my favorite singers!! She's so pretty!!!
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The Doors were a great 60's band. I was there! (Emilee's dad)
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they should get The Celts cd uploaded. Where's it at already? Come on Pandora get with it!
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enya falls right into the same category as enigma. If you haven't heard of enigma then you should definitely check it.
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Boadicea - has such a relaxing melody appropriate for stretch exercises.
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Enya is the best composer to me. Her music does not have genre, its just simply Enya. Nothing can be compared to it. The only other artists that I believe have come close to her sound would be Ronan Hardiman and 2002. I can understand what she meant when she was asked, what genre best described her music, and she simply said "Enya"... She's so right, there should be an "Enya" genre category.
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Her music is sooo timeless. I still remember the video for "Orinoco Flow" which played during the early years of MTV as though it was yesterday. I was never much a fan of world/new age music until that video.
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Her music is so wonderful! "Caribbean Blue" and "I Want Tomorrow" are my favorites
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Enya sings my feelings. When missing my boys (all three have moved away from hometown) she reminds me of their love and the good times we had through the years. When certain songs come on as triggers, I immediatly sit down and email them.
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She's very good. I think the Celts are good, too
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I think The Celts is the best! It is so cohesive all the way through and evokes a mood in me that I can't even describe! The rest of her stuff is good, but her first album is her best!
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Regardless of what ALL and ELSE, my husband and I fight about and over, Enya is the ONE experience we BOTH AGREE ON, OVER, AND ABOUT; She is a JOY TO EXPERIENCE AND LISTEN TO! My only regret is that I can permanently inbed an Enya Sound Chip ito my husband's brain; perhaps then we'd have joy and peace....
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Been a fan since the beginning and still here today. I can't think of any better music to relax or drift away too.
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Enya is like a poem that stays and whispers to your Heart....... . . c y n t r a
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The new album, cl0ckw0rk0ra n g e , is available now. It's called And Winter Came.
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enya gets a wee bit annoying sometime. *turn it up, turn it up, oh turn.( repeated 100000000000 times)*
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Enya has managed to help me maintain my sanity more than I care to admit... Wish I could tell her personally.
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They should play other albums by her like "The Celts." That is probably my favorite
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I agree. I grew up with Enya. And, when I was in the hospital, I had her music playing in my ears - most healing.
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Listening to Enya's music makes me think of the old days in the 90's - when I was a younger man.
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