With an estimated 80 million albums sold worldwide,[1] Enya is the best-selling Irish solo artist; the second-best-selling music act from Ireland overall after the rock band U2.

Over the following four years, Enya further developed her sound by combining multitracked vocals and keyboards with elements from a variety of musical genres, such as Celtic, classical, church, jazz, ambient, world, and Irish folk.

Baba Brennan (née Duggan) is said to have Spanish roots with ancestors who settled on Tory Island[9] and she was an amateur musician who played with the Slieve Foy Band.

Their maternal grandparents and aunt were quite involved with the siblings' upbringing at home, as Baba and Leo were travelling with the showband; Enya recalled "they toured a great deal, mostly in Ireland and Scotland.

[10][19][20] Enya's songs "On Your Shore" and "Smaointe" (first released as the Orinoco Flow B-side track "Smaoitím") are dedicated to both her maternal grandmother and grandfather.

[24][29] In 1980, after a year at college, Enya decided not to pursue a music degree and instead accepted Nicky Ryan's invitation to play alongside the band Clannad, with him having wanted to expand their sound with keyboards and an additional vocalist.

[24][30] Enya performed an uncredited role on their sixth studio album, Crann Úll (1980), with a line-up of her eldest siblings Moya, Pól, and Ciarán Brennan, and twin uncles Noel and Pádraig Duggan.

"[34] Nicky discussed the idea of layering vocals to create a "choir of one" with Enya, a concept inspired by Phil Spector's Wall of Sound technique that had interested them both.

[36] After their bank denied them a loan, Enya reportedly sold her saxophone, which she had been learning to play at the time, and also gave piano lessons as a source of income.

[42] Following her departure from Clannad in 1982, Enya (as Eithne Ní Bhraonáin) featured on tracks alongside a few artists, often on keyboards or backing vocals, with Nicky Ryan as producer.

[46][47] Enya's first solo endeavours were in 1982, when she began to compose two piano instrumentals, "An Ghaoth Ón Ghrian" (Irish for "The Solar Wind") and "Miss Clare Remembers".

[48] After several months of preparation, Enya's first live solo performance took place at the National Stadium in Dublin on 23 September 1983, and was televised for RTÉ's music show Festival Folk.

[52] Puttnam liked the tape and offered Enya to compose the soundtrack to the upcoming romantic comedy film, The Frog Prince (1984), directed by Brian Gilbert.

Dickins seized the opportunity and signed her, in doing so granting her wish to write and record with artistic freedom, minimal interference from the label, and without set deadlines to finish albums.

[71] "Orinoco Flow" became an international top 10 hit and was number one in the United Kingdom for three weeks,[63] and is credited with bringing new-age music to the mainstream market in America.

[72] The new-found success propelled Enya to international fame and she received endorsement deals and offers to use her music in television commercials[73] She spent a year traveling worldwide to promote the album which increased her exposure through interviews, appearances, and live performances.

"[83] She chose to work on the collection following the promotional tour for The Memory of Trees as she felt it was the right time in her career, and that her contract with WEA required her to release a "best of" album.

On 22 July 2016, Bosnian-Swedish DJ Salvatore Ganacci released the single "Dive", which heavily samples "Boadicea" and features vocals from Alex Aris.

Metro reportedly asked Enya to select song titles that she would be happy with, which included "Undecided," "Creepin'", "Don't Come Back to Me", "Better Off That Way" and "Wanna Let You Know".

"[123] In early December 2024, Creepin' won the BMI London Song of the Year, with composition credits and awards including both Enya and Nick [sic] Ryan.

Enya's note, in Irish, read "Beidh muid ag teacht le chéile gan mhoile", which roughly translates to "We will meet again soon".

[27] During her time with Clannad, Enya chose to work with Nicky as the two shared an interest in vocal harmonies, and Ryan, influenced by The Beach Boys and the "Wall of Sound" technique that Phil Spector pioneered, wanted to explore the idea of "the multi-vocals" for which her music became known.

[130][131] Enya performs all vocals and the majority of instruments in her songs, apart from guest musicians (some percussion, guitar, violin, uilleann pipes, cornet, and double bass).

The 1991 music video for "Caribbean Blue", and the 1995 album cover artwork for The Memory of Trees both feature adapted works from artist Maxfield Parrish.

Amarantine and Dark Sky Island include songs sung in Loxian, a fictional language created by Roma Ryan, that has no official syntax.

[147] In 2016, Enya spoke about the prospect of a live concert when she revealed talks with the Ryans during her three-year break after And Winter Came... (2008) to perform a show at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City that would be simulcast to cinemas worldwide.

[30] Enya has performed with live and lip-syncing vocals on various talk and music shows, events, and ceremonies throughout her career, most often during her worldwide press tours for each album.

Enya and her sisters performed as part of the local choir Cór Mhuire in July 2005 at St. Mary's church in Derrybeg, Gweedore, during the annual Earagail Arts Festival.

"[165] Enya recalled reading books in her youth such as The Lord of the Rings, and the Malory Towers series by Enid Blyton, prior to going to boarding school herself.

[166][167] At the family pub Leo's Tavern, memorabilia that celebrates musical achievements of Enya and her siblings, notably those in Clannad, are displayed across the walls inside.