What is "enya"

Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin ( anglicised as Enya Patricia Brennan; born 17 May 1961), better known as her stage name Enya, is an Irish singer, songwriter, musician and producer. Born into a musical family and raised in the Irish speaking area of Gweedore in County Donegal, Enya began her professional music career at eighteen when she joined her family's Celtic band Clannad in 1980 on keyboards and backing vocals. She left the group in 1982 with their manager and producer Nicky Ryan to pursue a solo career, with Ryan's wife Roma Ryan as her lyricist. In the following four years, Enya developed her distinct sound of multi-tracked vocals and keyboards with elements of New age, Celtic, classical, church, and folk music. She has sung in ten languages.

Enya's first projects as a solo artist included soundtrack work for The Frog Prince (1985) and the 1987 BBC documentary series The Celts, which was released as her debut album, Enya (1987). She signed a recording deal with Warner Music which granted her artistic freedom and minimal interference from the label. The critical and commercial success of Watermark (1988) propelled her to worldwide fame, helped by its international top ten hit single, " Orinoco Flow". This was followed by the multi-million selling albums Shepherd Moons (1991), The Memory of Trees (1995) and A Day Without Rain (2000). Sales of A Day Without Rain and its lead single " Only Time" surged in the United States following its use in the media coverage following the 11 September 2001 attacks. The album remains the best selling New age album with an estimated 16 million copies sold worldwide. Following Amarantine (2005) and And Winter Came... (2008), Enya took an extended break from music. She returned in 2012 and released Dark Sky Island (2015).

Enya is known for her private lifestyle and has yet to undergo a concert tour. She is Ireland's biggest selling solo artist and second overall behind U2, with a discography that has sold 26.5 million certified albums in the United States and an estimated 75 million worldwide. Enya has won several awards throughout her career, including seven World Music Awards, four Grammy Awards for Best New Age Album, an Ivor Novello Award, and was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for " May It Be", a song she recorded for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001).

Enya is the debut studio album by Irish singer, songwriter and musician Enya, released in March 1987 by BBC Records in the United Kingdom and by Atlantic Records in the United States. It was renamed as The Celts for the 1992 international re-release of the album by Warner Music. The album is a selection of music she recorded for the soundtrack to the BBC television series The Celts, aired in 1987. Four years into her largely unnoticed solo career, Enya landed her first major project in 1985 when producer Tony McAuley asked her to contribute a song to the soundtrack. After its director David Richardson liked her demo, Enya accepted his offer to compose the entire score. with her long time recording partners, producer and arranger Nicky Ryan and his wife, lyricist Roma Ryan.

Enya received mostly mixed reviews from critics when it was released in 1987. It was a mild commercial success, peaking at number eight in Ireland and number sixty-nine on the UK Albums Chart. The album continued to sell; it was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of one million copies. Despite its commercial performance, the album helped Enya secure a recording contract with Warner after chairman Rob Dickins became a fan of its music. After the commercial success of Enya's next two albums, the album was reissued as The Celts which outperformed its original sales. It reached a new peak of number ten on the UK Albums Chart and sold a further one million copies in the United States.

Enya (born 1961) is an Irish vocalist, instrumentalist and composer.

Enya may also refer to:

• Enya (album), 1987 album by Enya
• 6433 Enya, asteroid named after the Irish musician Enya
• Enya language, a language spoken in the Democratic Republic of the Congo