NEW YORK (AP) – The Irish singer Eithne Ni Bhraonain – known to the world as Enya – has essentially created her own style of music and sold some 80 million CDs in three decades. Yet when she leaves a hotel after talking about her first new work in seven years, chances are she will walk Manhattan streets unnoticed.
It’s an enviable place to be in a celebrity-soaked world.
“As a musician, I love the fact that the success was on the music,” she said. “I always say that fame and success are two very different things. … I had a choice – and not a lot of people have this choice – of whether to seek fame with this music or whether to stay back behind the music and let the music speak for itself. And, really, that’s what I did.”
Enya’s music re-enters the spotlight on Friday, with the release of “Dark Sky Island.” It debuts the same day another one-named powerhouse comes out with her new album – Adele with her “25.”
The music industry will be watching to see in this era of streaming and sharing if Enya can replicate past success. Nielsen Music says she’s sold 23.8 million albums in the United States alone.