Her brother Gearóid played guitar for Ragairne ( a short-lived band formed by Ní Mhaonaigh and Frankie Kennedy, of which singer Enya was a member ), appeared on the album Ceol Aduaidh, and organises the Frankie Kennedy Winter School.

Another early appearance on record followed in 1987, where Enya provided spoken ( not sung ) vocals in Irish on the song " Never Get Old " on Sinéad O ' Connor's debut album, The Lion and the Cobra.

Enya performs all percussion, instruments, and vocals in her pieces unless specified.

The vocals are performed individually, and are then layered together to form a virtual choir, although all the voices are Enya herself.

Enya recorded two solo instrumental pieces called " An Ghaoth Ón Ghrian " ( Irish for " The Solar Wind ") and " Miss Clare Remembers " that were released on the 1984 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.

The music she produced was featured on her first solo album, Enya ( 1987 ), but it attracted little attention at the time.

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 ).

It appears on a promotional Japanese CD called, The Best of Enya, and does not include the French lyrics.

A 1989 recording of Enya singing " Oíche Chiúin ", an Irish language version of " Silent Night ", has been reissued at least twice: on The Christmas EP ( which otherwise contains several non-holiday related previously issued recordings by Enya ) and the 1997 edition of the charity album A Very Special Christmas.

Enya was the subject in the song " Pumping Iron for Enya " by Atom and His Package on their 1999 album Making Love.

Following a five-year break Enya released the album A Day Without Rain in 2000, featuring 37 minutes of new material ( 34 minutes on the U. S. version ).

Enya released a special edition of the song, and a maxi single was issued on 20 November 2001 featuring a pop mix, with proceeds donated to the families of victims.

Enya issued a press release on her official Web site on 19 September stating that this was a mistake and no new album was immediately forthcoming.

Enya was awarded the World's Best-Selling Irish Act award at the World Music Awards in London on 19 November 2006.

Shortly after, on 10 July 2007, Enya received a second honorary doctorate from the University of Ulster.

As a result, Enya spent an estimated € 250, 000 on security measures for her home, Manderley Castle in Killiney.

The asteroid 6433 Enya, discovered on 18 November 1978 by A. Mrkos at Klet, is named after her.

The first official home video collection of music videos by Enya, Moonshadows, was issued on VHS by Warner Music in 1991, containing most of her music videos up until that point.

In 2000 Warner Music released Enya: The Video Collection on DVD in Europe, South Africa and Asia, collecting all her videos from " Orinoco Flow " up to and including " Wild Child ", except for the video from " Book of Days ", which was replaced by a live TV performance due to licensing complications relating to the video's use of footage from the film Far and Away.

Gaoth Dobhair in County Donegal is the largest Gaeltacht parish in Ireland, which is home to regional studios of RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta and world-class musicians, such as Proinsias Ó Maonaigh, Altan, Moya Brennan ( Máire Ní Bhraonáin ), Enya ( Eithne ), and Clannad, who were all raised with Irish as their first language.

Enya achieved a breakthrough in her career in 1988 with the album Watermark, which featured the hit song " Orinoco Flow " ( sometimes incorrectly known as " Sail Away ").

Three years later she followed with another hit album, Shepherd Moons, which sold twelve million copies and earned Enya her first Grammy Award.

In 1992 a re-mastered version of the Enya album was released as The Celts including a longer, modified version of " Portrait ", which was renamed " Portrait ( Out of the Blue )".

Enya won an Echo Award for best selling international single in Germany of 2001, and received a nomination for best selling album.

On 23 November 2009 Enya released a new album called The Very Best of Enya.

In " Cursum Perficio " of the album Watermark, Enya reaches a C an octave below middle C. Later in the piece, she sings a high A-flat above the treble clef.

On the album Amarantine Enya sings in Japanese and Loxian, a language invented by Roma Ryan.

Enya has performed several songs relating to J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, including 1991's " Lothlórien " ( instrumental ), and 2001's " May It Be " ( sung in English and Quenya ), and " Aníron " ( in Sindarin )— the latter two, which she composed, appearing in Peter Jackson's movie The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and its soundtrack album.

* The Celts ( album ), a 1992 album by Irish musician Enya

Their debut album, Orinoco Flow: The Music of Enya, was a collection of songs originally created and sung by Enya.

In 1980, Enya worked with Clannad, the band composed of her siblings Máire ( Moya ), Pól, and Ciarán and twin uncles Noel and Pádraig Duggan.

Enya was born and brought up in Gweedore ( known in Irish as Gaoth Dobhair ), County Donegal, in the northwest corner of Ireland.

In 2006, Enya made it to the number three spot in the ranks of wealthy Irish entertainers with an estimated fortune of € 109 million ( i. e., £ 75 million or US $ 165 million ), and number 95 in the Sunday Times Rich List 2006 of the 250 Wealthiest Irish People.

* May 17 – Enya ( Eithne Patricia Ní Bhraonáin ), Irish musician

* Enya ( Eithne Ní Bhraonáin ), musician

Other spellings and earlier forms include: Ethnea, Ethlend, Ethnen, Ethlenn, Ethnenn, Eithene, Ethne, Aithne, Enya, Áine ( sometimes a separate name ), Ena, Edna, Etney, Eithnenn, Eithlenn, Eithna, Ethni, Edlend, Edlenn.

There are versions by Enya ( sung in Gaelic ), Andrea Bocelli ( sung in Italian ), Stevie Nicks, Bing Crosby, Mahalia Jackson, an acoustic version by American R ' n ' B group Boyz II Men, and an instrumental version by Mannheim Steamroller.

Today, in addition to Young, it is home to such artists as Devendra Banhart, Green Day, Deftones, Michael Bublé, Enya, Mastodon, Eric Clapton, Fleetwood Mac, Serj Tankian, Josh Groban, Charice, Cavo, Taking Back Sunday, HIM ( also on Sire ), My Chemical Romance and Disturbed.

Moya is the eldest of nine children, her sisters are Deirdre, Eithne ( better known as Enya ), Olive, Brídín and her brothers are Ciarán, Pól, Leon and Bartley.

McKennitt is compared to Enya, but McKennitt's music is more grounded in traditional and classical invocations, using literary works as sources of lyrics and springboards for interpretation such as " The Lady of Shalott " by Lord Tennyson, " Prospero's Speech " ( the final soliloquy in William Shakespeare's The Tempest ), " Snow " by Archibald Lampman, " Dark Night of the Soul " by St. John of the Cross, Dante's Inferno, William Blake's " Lullaby ", Yeats ' " The Stolen Child ", " The English Ladye and the Knight " by Sir Walter Scott and " The Highwayman " by Alfred Noyes.

However, the most successful genres have been rock, popular and traditional fusion, with performers such as U2, Enya, Westlife, Boyzone, Phil Lynott and Thin Lizzy, Gary Moore, Rory Gallagher, Horslips, Bob Geldof and The Boomtown Rats, Clannad, Stiff Little Fingers, Altan, Frank Patterson, The Corrs, The Dubliners, The Chieftains, The Bothy Band, De Dannan, The Divine Comedy, Josef Locke, The Irish Tenors, Van Morrison, Therapy ?, The Saw Doctors, Planxty, The Wolfe Tones, Snow Patrol, The Cranberries, In Tua Nua, The Undertones, Ash, B * Witched, Nadine Coyle, The Hothouse Flowers, The Script, Two Door Cinema Club, Something Happens, The Clancy Brothers, Tommy Makem, Dana, Mundy, Sinéad O ' Connor, Paul Brady, Christy Moore, Dónal Lunny, Val Doonican, Ronnie Drew, Luke Kelly, Ruby Murray, Peter Cunnah ( of D: Ream ), Daniel O ' Donnell, Bridie Gallagher, Brendan Bowyer, Gilbert O ' Sullivan, Mary Black, Sir James Galway, Johnny Logan, Bill Whelan ( of Riverdance fame ), Damien Rice, Phil Coulter, Glen Hansard, and Celtic Woman achieving success nationally and internationally.

* " Exile " ( song ), a 1988 song by Irish singer Enya

Titles of New Age albums and songs are frequently descriptive: examples include Shepherd Moons ( Enya ), Straight ' a Way to Orion ( Kitaro ), Touching the Clouds ( Symbiosis ), and One Deep Breath ( Bradley Joseph ).