63 Facts About Enya

1.

Eithne Padraigin Ni Bhraonain, known mononymously as Enya, is an Irish singer, songwriter, and musician.

2.

Enya left Clannad in 1982 to pursue a solo career with Clannad's manager and producer, Nicky and Roma Ryan as her lyricists.

3.

Enya signed with Warner Music UK, which granted her considerable artistic freedom and minimal interference.

4.

Enya's mother, Maire, had distant Spanish roots with ancestors who settled on Tory Island, and was an amateur musician who played in the Slieve Foy Band.

5.

Enya grew up in Gweedore, a region where Irish is the primary language.

6.

Enya's maternal grandfather, Aodh, was the headmaster of the primary school in Dore where her grandmother was a teacher.

7.

Enya took part in pantomimes at Gweedore Theatre and sang with her siblings in her mother's choir at St Mary's church in Derrybeg.

8.

Enya learned English in primary school and began piano lessons at age four.

9.

The boarding school was where Enya developed a taste for classical music, art, Latin, and watercolor painting.

10.

In 1970, several members of Enya's family formed Clannad, a Celtic folk band.

11.

In 1980, after her year at college, Enya decided not to pursue a music degree at university and instead accepted Ryan's invitation to join Clannad, having wanted to expand their sound with keyboards and an additional vocalist.

12.

Enya performed an uncredited role on their sixth studio album, Crann Ull, with a line-up of siblings Maire, Pol, and Ciaran Brennan, and twin uncles Noel and Padraig Duggan.

13.

Enya's first composition was "An Aibhse Uaighneach", Irish for "The Lonely Ghost".

14.

Enya is credited as Eithne Ni Bhraonain in the liner notes.

15.

Enya scored nine pieces for the film; later, against her wishes, the pieces were rearranged and orchestrated by Richard Myhill, except for two pieces in which she sang, "The Frog Prince" and "Dreams".

16.

The film editor Jim Clark said the rearrangements were necessary as Enya found it difficult to compose to the picture.

17.

Enya looked back at her composition work on the film as a good career move, but a disappointing one as "we weren't part of it at the end".

18.

In 1985, producer Tony McAuley asked Enya to contribute a track for the six-part BBC television documentary series The Celts.

19.

Enya recorded 72 minutes of music at Aigle Studio and the BBC studios in Wood Lane, London, without recording to the picture.

20.

Enya was required to portray certain themes and ideas that the producers wanted; but unlike The Frog Prince, she worked with little interference which granted her freedom to establish the sound that she would adopt throughout her future career, signified by layered vocals, keyboard-oriented music, and percussion with elements of Celtic, classical, church, and folk music.

21.

In March 1987, two months before The Celts aired, a 40-minute selection of Enya's score was released as her debut solo album, Enya, by BBC Records in the United Kingdom and by Atlantic Records in the United States.

22.

Enya took legal action and the group subsequently gave her credit; they paid a fee of approximately $3 million.

23.

Later in 1987, Enya appeared on Sinead O'Connor's debut album The Lion and the Cobra, reciting Psalm 91 in Irish on "Never Get Old".

24.

Enya spent one year traveling worldwide to promote the album which increased her exposure through interviews, appearances, and live performances.

25.

Enya wrote songs based on several ideas, including entries from her diary, the Blitz in London, and her grandparents.

26.

In 1993 Enya won her first Grammy Award in the Best New Age Album category for Shepherd Moons.

27.

In November 1992, Warner obtained the rights to Enya and re-released the album as The Celts with new artwork.

28.

In late 1994, Enya put out an extended play of Christmas music titled The Christmas EP.

29.

Enya was offered to compose the film score for Titanic but declined as it would be a collaboration, rather than solely her composition.

30.

Enya started work on her fifth studio album, titled A Day Without Rain, in mid-1998.

31.

Enya donated its proceeds in aid of the International Association of Firefighters.

32.

The song topped the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart and went to number 10 on the Hot 100 singles, Enya's highest charting US single to date.

33.

In 2001, Enya agreed to write and perform on two tracks for the soundtrack of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring at the request of director Peter Jackson.

34.

Shore then based his orchestrations around Enya's recorded vocals and themes to create "a seamless sound".

35.

In 2002, Enya released "May It Be" as a single which earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song.

36.

Enya performed the song live with an orchestra at the 74th Academy Awards ceremony in March 2002, and later cited the moment as a career highlight.

37.

In September 2003, Enya returned to Aigle Studio to start work on her sixth studio album, Amarantine.

38.

The album marks the first instance of Enya singing in Loxian, a fictional language created by Roma that came about when Enya was working on "Water Shows the Hidden Heart".

39.

Enya dedicated the album to BBC producer Tony McAuley who had commissioned Enya to write the soundtrack to The Celts, following his death in 2003.

40.

In June 2007, Enya received an honorary doctorate from the National University of Ireland, Galway.

41.

Enya wrote music with a winter and Christmas theme for her seventh studio album, And Winter Came.

42.

Enya spent her time resting, visiting family in Australia, and renovating her new home in the south of France.

43.

In 2012, Enya returned to the studio to record her eighth album, Dark Sky Island.

44.

Enya completed a promotional tour of the UK, Europe, the US, and Japan.

45.

In December 2016, Enya appeared on the Irish television show Christmas Carols from Cork, marking her first Irish television appearance in over seven years.

46.

Enya stated that when the work is finished, Enya will start working on new music.

47.

Enya has cited her musical foundations as "the classics", church music, and "Irish reels and jigs" with a particular interest in Sergei Rachmaninoff, a favourite composer of hers.

48.

Enya has an autographed picture of him in her home.

49.

Enya plays a whole lot of instruments, not just keyboards.

50.

Enya has recorded music influenced by works from fantasy author JR R Tolkien, including the instrumental "Lothlorien" from Shepherd Moons.

51.

Enya adopted a composing and songwriting method that has deviated little throughout her career.

52.

Enya then develops ideas on the piano, keeping note of any arrangement that can be worked on further.

53.

Enya considered "Fallen Embers" from A Day Without Rain a perfect time when the lyrics reflect how she felt while writing the song.

54.

Enya explained that the time put into her studio albums caused her to "run overtime", leaving little time to plan for other such projects.

55.

Enya expressed the difficulty in recreating her studio-oriented sound for the stage.

56.

In 2016, Enya spoke about the prospect of a live concert when she revealed talks with the Ryans during her three-year break after And Winter Came.

57.

Enya has sung with live and lip-syncing vocals on various talk and music shows, events, and ceremonies throughout her career, most often during her worldwide press tours for each album.

58.

In 1997, Enya participated in a live Christmas Eve broadcast in London and flew to County Donegal afterward to join her family for their annual midnight Mass choral performance, in which she participates each year.

59.

In 1991, a minor planet first discovered in 1978,6433 Enya, was named after her.

60.

Enya has identified herself as "more spiritual than religious" and has said that she sometimes prays, but prefers "going into churches when they're empty".

61.

Enya alerted police by raising an alarm from her safe room.

62.

The discography of Enya includes 26.5 million certified album sales in the United States and an estimated 80 million record sales worldwide, making her one of the best-selling musicians of all time.

63.

Enya's awards include seven World Music Awards, four Grammy Awards for Best New Age Album, and an Ivor Novello Award.