ENYA
Name: Eithne Patricia Ní Bhraonáin
Born: May 17, 1961 Gweedore, County Donegal, Ireland
Enya (born Eithne Patricia Ní Bhraonáin on 17 May 1961, Gaoth Dobhair, County
Donegal, Ireland), sometimes presented in the media as Enya Brennan, is an Irish
singer and songwriter. She is Ireland's best-selling solo artist and is
officially the country's second biggest musical export (second only to U2).
Her works have earned her four Grammy Awards and an Academy Award nomination and
is also famous for performing in 10 different languages during her lengthy
career. Enya is an approximate transcription of how Eithne is pronounced in her
native Irish, in the Donegal dialect.
Enya was born in Gweedore / Gaoth Dobhair, County Donegal, Ireland in 1961 to a
musical family, the sixth of nine children. [7] Her grandparents were in a band
that played throughout Ireland, her father was the leader of the Slieve Foy Band
before opening a pub, and her mother played in a dance band and later taught
music at the Gweedore Comprehensive School. Enya has four brothers and four
sisters, several of whom formed the band An Clann As Dobhar in 1968. They
renamed the band Clannad in the 1970s.
In 1980, Enya worked with Clannad, the band composed of her siblings Máire (Moya),
Pól, and Ciarán and twin uncles Noel and Padraig Duggan. Enya played the
keyboard and provided backing vocals on their album Crann Úll (1980), although
she was not officially a member of the group until the 1981 release Fuaim, when
she appeared on the cover. In 1982, shortly before Clannad became famous for "Theme
From Harry's Game," producer and manager Nicky Ryan left the group and Enya
joined him to start her own solo career. Enya then formed her own recording
studio, named "Aigle", which is French for "Eagle".
Enya recorded two solo instrumental songs called "An Ghaoth Ón Ghrian" ("The
Solar Wind") and "Miss Clare Remembers" that were released on the 1983 album
Touch Travel. She was first credited as Enya (as opposed to Eithne) for writing
some of the music for the 1984 movie The Frog Prince, which was released on a
soundtrack album of the same title. Another early appearance on record followed
in 1987, where Enya provided spoken (not sung) vocals on Sinéad O'Connor's debut
album, The Lion and the Cobra. The title of the album is a partial English
translation of Enya's Gaelic reading of Psalms 91:11-13 on the song "Never Get
Old".
Enya was contracted to provide music for the soundtrack of the 1986 BBC
television documentary The Celts. The music she produced was featured on her
first solo album, Enya (1987), but it attracted little attention at the time.
The B-Side single "Eclipse" is actually a reversed and modified version of Enya's
song "Deireadh An Tuath", from this 1987 album Enya. The song "Boadicea",
also from this album, would later be sampled by The Fugees on their single "Ready
or Not" (1996), causing a brief stir because the group neither sought permission
from Enya nor gave her credit initially, and by Mario Winans, who did give her
credit (the Winans track, "I Don't Wanna Know" which features a rap by P. Diddy
and is officially credited to all three artists, became Enya's highest charting
single in the US, when it peaked at #2 on the Hot 100 in 2004).
Name: Eithne Patricia Ní Bhraonáin
Born: May 17, 1961 Gweedore, County Donegal, Ireland
Enya (born Eithne Patricia Ní Bhraonáin on 17 May 1961, Gaoth Dobhair, County
Donegal, Ireland), sometimes presented in the media as Enya Brennan, is an Irish
singer and songwriter. She is Ireland's best-selling solo artist and is
officially the country's second biggest musical export (second only to U2).
Her works have earned her four Grammy Awards and an Academy Award nomination and
is also famous for performing in 10 different languages during her lengthy
career. Enya is an approximate transcription of how Eithne is pronounced in her
native Irish, in the Donegal dialect.
Enya was born in Gweedore / Gaoth Dobhair, County Donegal, Ireland in 1961 to a
musical family, the sixth of nine children. [7] Her grandparents were in a band
that played throughout Ireland, her father was the leader of the Slieve Foy Band
before opening a pub, and her mother played in a dance band and later taught
music at the Gweedore Comprehensive School. Enya has four brothers and four
sisters, several of whom formed the band An Clann As Dobhar in 1968. They
renamed the band Clannad in the 1970s.
In 1980, Enya worked with Clannad, the band composed of her siblings Máire (Moya),
Pól, and Ciarán and twin uncles Noel and Padraig Duggan. Enya played the
keyboard and provided backing vocals on their album Crann Úll (1980), although
she was not officially a member of the group until the 1981 release Fuaim, when
she appeared on the cover. In 1982, shortly before Clannad became famous for "Theme
From Harry's Game," producer and manager Nicky Ryan left the group and Enya
joined him to start her own solo career. Enya then formed her own recording
studio, named "Aigle", which is French for "Eagle".
Enya recorded two solo instrumental songs called "An Ghaoth Ón Ghrian" ("The
Solar Wind") and "Miss Clare Remembers" that were released on the 1983 album
Touch Travel. She was first credited as Enya (as opposed to Eithne) for writing
some of the music for the 1984 movie The Frog Prince, which was released on a
soundtrack album of the same title. Another early appearance on record followed
in 1987, where Enya provided spoken (not sung) vocals on Sinéad O'Connor's debut
album, The Lion and the Cobra. The title of the album is a partial English
translation of Enya's Gaelic reading of Psalms 91:11-13 on the song "Never Get
Old".
Enya was contracted to provide music for the soundtrack of the 1986 BBC
television documentary The Celts. The music she produced was featured on her
first solo album, Enya (1987), but it attracted little attention at the time.
The B-Side single "Eclipse" is actually a reversed and modified version of Enya's
song "Deireadh An Tuath", from this 1987 album Enya. The song "Boadicea",
also from this album, would later be sampled by The Fugees on their single "Ready
or Not" (1996), causing a brief stir because the group neither sought permission
from Enya nor gave her credit initially, and by Mario Winans, who did give her
credit (the Winans track, "I Don't Wanna Know" which features a rap by P. Diddy
and is officially credited to all three artists, became Enya's highest charting
single in the US, when it peaked at #2 on the Hot 100 in 2004).