Enya is an Irish singer born on May 17, 1961 in the western part of Donegal in the Republic of Ireland.
The early years of the singer
The girl described her upbringing as "very joyful and calm." At the age of 3, she entered her first singing competition at the annual music festival. She also took part in pantomimes at the Gwydora Theater and sang with her siblings in her mother's choir at St Mary's Church in Derrybag.
At the age of 4, the girl began to learn to play the piano, and at school she learned English. At age 11, Enya's grandfather paid for his granddaughter's education at a strict monastic boarding school in Milford, run by the nuns of the Loreto order.
There, the girl developed a taste for classical music, art, Latin and watercolor painting. “It was terrible to be separated from such a big family, but it was good for my music.”, Enya commented.
She left school at 17 and studied classical music in college for one year to become a piano teacher.
Singer career Enya
In 1980, Enya joined the group Clannad (the composition included the brothers and sisters of the singer). In 1982, she left the group to start her solo career shortly before Clannad became famous with Theme From Harry's Game. In 1988, the singer achieved success in her solo career with the hit song Orinoco Flow (sometimes referred to as Sail).
Some of the songs she sings exclusively in Irish or Latin. The singer performed songs that can be heard in the film "The Lord of the Rings", namely: Lothlrien, May It Be and Anron.
After a three-year break, Enya recorded the album Watermark, which "broke" into the charts of different countries. The song Shepherd Moons instantly enjoyed worldwide popularity.
As a result, it managed to sell 10 million copies and received the first Grammy Award for Best Album. Many believe that such success is due to the English version of the single Book of days.
In an attempt to expand her audience, the singer re-released her debut album and Enya was named The Celts.
After a five-year break between albums, A Day Without Rain (2000 Reprise) was the singer's most successful album, largely due to the single Only Time. The track became an anthem heard on major radio stations around the world after the 11/XNUMX attacks.
Three years later, in November 2000, she released her first album in five years, A Day Without Rain. It was a significant success in North America, reaching #1 on the Billboard 200 and #4 on the Top Canadian Albums charts.
The single Only Time peaked at number 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and also peaked at number 1 on the Adult Contemporary airplay chart. This is because the song captured the mood of the nation after the 11/XNUMX attacks.
In November 2005, Amarantine's sixth studio album was released, which instantly hit the top 10 hit charts in the US and Canada. The title song was a top 20 radio hit, peaking at number 12 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart.
The new album And Winter Came... came out three years later and hit the top 10 in Canada, the US and the UK. Originally conceived as a Christmas album, it developed a more general winter theme, and the album contained only two traditional Christmas songs. It resulted in the Top 30 Hot Adult Contemporary Trains and Winter Rains singles.
The first solo album of the singer
In Enya's first album (BBC, 1987), re-released as The Celts (WEA, 1992), the singer invented the technique for which she gained worldwide fame: the use of traditional Irish instruments, electric guitar, synthesizer, bass, and above all vocalizations, overdubbed into lots of echoes to evoke magical and archaic sounds.
A few weeks after the release of her first album, Enya signed a recording deal with Warner Music UK. This happened due to the fact that the chairman of the label, Rob Deakins, fell in love with the work of the artist.
Before signing the contract, he met her at the Irish Association Awards in Dublin and offered to sign a contract. The deal ensured freedom of the music, minimal interference from the label, and no set deadlines for completing albums.
Deakins said: “Basically, a contract is concluded to make a profit, and sometimes to become involved in creativity. It was clearly the last one. I had a desire to become associated with the work of Enya. I had her music on repeat, I heard something new, unique, performed with soul. I could not miss the opportunity and at a completely random meeting not to offer cooperation.
After Enya had to break the contract and enter into an agreement with another label in order to get American distribution of her songs. This allowed to expand its audience and win even more recognition.
Enya Awards
The singer has received four Grammy awards. In addition, she received an Oscar nomination for soundtracks. The World Music Awards in 2006 honored her as the world's best-selling Irish musician.
