Enya

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Enya : biography

17 May 1961 –

2005–08: Amarantine and And Winter Came…

In November 2005, a new album, entitled Amarantine, was released. It reached the Top 10 in both the UK and the US, and peaked at number 3 in Germany. The album won the Grammy Award for Best New Age Album for 2007, Enya’s fourth.

In 2006, Enya released several Christmas-themed CDs with newly recorded material. On 10 October 2006 Sounds of the Season: The Enya Holiday Collection was released containing six songs: the previously released "Oíche Chiúin" (a.k.a. "Silent Night") and "Amid the Falling Snow", new recordings of the standards "Adeste Fideles" (a.k.a. "Oh Come All Ye Faithful") and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" as well as two original songs, "Christmas Secrets" and "The Magic of the Night". This CD was released only in the United States in an exclusive partnership with the NBC television network and the Target department store chain. Enya was awarded the World’s Best-Selling Irish Act award at the World Music Awards in London on 19 November 2006.

In late November two new editions of Amarantine were released. In the UK it was reissued as Christmas Edition: Amarantine with a second disc containing the four new Christmas songs previously issued on Sounds of the Season (the original album already had "Amid the Falling Snow" while "Oíche Chiúin" is a recording dating back to 1988, which had already been featured on numerous collections). The U.S. received a special version of this release (Amarantine – Deluxe Collector’s Edition), which also included three postcards and a copy of Roma Ryan’s book Water Shows the Hidden Heart, which is referenced on the original album. Canadian fans could choose from the Special Christmas Edition of Amarantine or an EP entitled Christmas Secrets, which contained only the four new songs.

By mid-2007, Enya claimed to have sold 80 million albums. An American businessperson has coined the phrase "enyanomics" to explain Enya’s ability to sell millions of records without giving any live performances. It is defined as the inexplicable growth in sales of an artist in inverse relation to how much publicity they have.

On 29 June 2007, Enya received an honorary doctorate from the National University of Ireland, Galway. Shortly after, on 10 July 2007, Enya received a second honorary doctorate from the University of Ulster.

November 2008 saw the release of And Winter Came… with a new video for the song "Trains and Winter Rains". This album follows her passion for the Christmas period. It also features guitar on the track "My! My! Time Flies!" and a chorale version of the previously released "Oíche Chiúin". She promoted the album on morning news shows and performed some songs live.

2009–present: The Very Best of Enya and eighth studio album

In March 2009, Warner Music Japan released Enya’s first 4 albums in a new format, called SHM-CD. On 23 November 2009 Enya released a new album called The Very Best of Enya. It includes most of her hits from 1987 to 2008 including a new version of "Aníron", a song created for "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring" in 2001. In 2010, singer Rihanna sampled "One By One" on the song "Fading" from her new album Loud.

In a May 2011 interview, Enya’s manager said that she is working on a new album and will likely tour to support it, with part of the recording taking place in Abbey Road Studios in London.

Musical style and other projects

As a musical group Enya represents a partnership between three people: Enya herself, who composes and performs the music; Nicky Ryan, who produces the albums; and Roma Ryan, who writes the lyrics in various languages, except Irish, in which Enya will render the lyrics herself. at Enta’s web site Enya performs all percussion, instruments, and vocals in her pieces unless specified. Although there are certain pieces where acoustic instruments are featured, almost all sounds of her pieces are created by a synthesiser. Her trademark sound is achieved by layering her voice hundreds of times. According to Enya, Angeles, the fifth track on her album Shepherd Moons has about 500 layered vocal tracks.