ABOUT ENYA » Biography
Enya, Eithne Patricia Ní Bhraonáin, was born on 17 May 1961 in Gweedore, County Donegal in the Gaeltacht region of Ireland.
She has 4 brothers (Ciarán, Pól, Leon, Bartley) and 4 sisters
(Máire, Deidre, Olive and Bridin). Both Enya's parents were involved in music: Her mother
Máire used to play in a dance band and later became a music teacher and a choir director. Her father Leo was a member of the Slieve foy show band
and later opened a tavern.
Enya grew up with traditional Irish music, performing on stage from the
age of three. When she was eleven, she was sent to a convent boarding school in Milford where she studied piano
and classical music. After graduating, she joined the family band Clannad on suggestion of their manager Nicky Ryan.
Clannad featured her twin uncles Pádraig and Noel Ó Dugáin, older brothers Ciarán and Pól
Ó Braonáin and her sister Máire Ní Bhraonáin. Enya provided backing vocals and played
the Wurlitzer electric piano, later she used the synthesizer Prophet 5. She stayed with Clannad for almost two years, toured
with them and participated in the recording of 'Crann Ull' and 'Fuaim.'
After completing a European tour in February 1982, Enya
left the band together with Nicky Ryan. She moved to live
with him and his wife Roma to Artane, Dublin wanting to develop her own career.
Enya began writing piano melodies and in 1984 her two instrumentals 'Miss Clare Remembers'
and 'An Ghaoth On Ghrian (The Solar Wind)'
appeared on a 'Touch Travel' cassette compilation. 
Roma found Enya's melodies very visual and sent a demo-tape of Enya to the British film director
David Puttnam who was looking for a composer for his movie 'The Frog
Prince.' Attracted by the demo tape, he offered the work to
Enya who wrote a sweet romantic score. Enya continued her work on soundtracks with the
BBC documentary series 'The Celts.' The music was released separately under the title 'ENYA.'
Although it didn't enjoy major chart success, the chairman of Warner Music
UK Rob Dickins heard the album and fell in love with it. When he met Enya at an Irish awards
ceremony outside Dublin he promptly signed her.
"I signed her as an
artist without any commercial potential at all," said Dickins.
"I was just a fan." One year later, Enya released
'Watermark.' Its first single 'Orinoco Flow,'
written as the last song for the album,
became a surprise no.1 hit in Britain and the album climbed to no.5 in
the UK charts. 'Watermark' introduced Enya worldwide - it
sold millions copies and went platinum in fourteen
different countries.
Enya spent the following years rather quietly until she returned in 1991 with the UK chart-topper 'Shepherd Moons.' The album with songs 'Caribbean Blue' and 'Book of Days' as singles sold over 10 million copies worldwide and won Enya her first Grammy. The next Grammy-winning album 'The Memory Of Trees' followed in 1995, entering the U.S charts at no.9. Two years later, Enya released a best of compilation 'Paint the Sky with Stars' and a cd collection 'A Box Of Dreams.' The three cds entitled 'Oceans, Clouds' and 'Stars' covered Enya's career from 1987 to 1997.
In 2000, five years after 'The Memory of Trees,' Enya released her fifth studio
album 'A Day without Rain.' The single 'Only Time'
received wide attention when it was used in news
coverage of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New
York. A remix of the track was released with all the profit going to the International Association of
Firefighters. 
'A Day without Rain' won the Best New Age
Album Award at the 2002 Grammy Awards and with more than 15 million units sold worldwide
became Enya's best selling album.
In 2001, Peter Jackson asked Enya to write two songs for his movie adaptation of the first part of 'The Lord Of The Rings' trilogy. Enya, a fan of Tolkien, agreed and contributed to the soundtrack of 'The Fellowship Of The Ring' with 'Aníron' and 'May It Be.' 'May It Be' received an Oscar nomination and Enya preformed the song live at the ceremony.
In September 2004, Panasonic used Enya's song 'Sumiregusa' in
a Japanese commercial promoting their Viera television. Shortly afterwards, Warner Music Japan
announced that the new full-lenght album was due to be released in November 2004.
The announcement was promptly denied by Aigle Music and it wasn't until a year later that
they confirmed the release date of 'Amarantine' on November 2005. In winter of the following year, Enya released
a Christmas-themed EP 'Sounds of the Season' and mentioned that she was mid-way through a Christmas album.
However, as the recording began to take shape, a broader seasonal theme emerged and the album became
'And Winter Came....' Released in November 2008, it's been a major
chart success and brought Enya's total album sales to over 70 million.
In autumn 2009, 20 years after 'Watermark,' Enya released her second best of compilation, 'The Very Best of Enya.' The collection came out in three different editions: cd-only, cd/dvd and a deluxe collector's box set.