Donegal singer, Enya, has been confirmed as the winner of the RTÉ Choice Music Prize Classic Irish Album for ‘Watermark’.
The album was released in 1988 when he was just 26-years-old. “Orinoco Flow”, the album’s global hit, was the final song written for the album. Selling an estimated 10 million albums, Watermark achieved multi-Platinum-selling status in many countries and is credited with propelling Enya to global fame and acclaim.
“I am delighted to win the RTÉ Choice Music Classic Album Prize,” Enya said today.
“Watermark has a special place in my heart – it was my second album and really launched my career internationally. It is wonderful that people are still discovering it today and it’s an honour to be chosen for this prize recognising Irish music.”
The album will be played in full tonight on RTÉ Gold after 6pm.
The Gweedore artist, who now lives in Dublin, is Ireland’s best-selling solo Irish Artist with over 80 million physical album sales.
Enya
The panel chose Watermark by Enya as their Classic Irish Album for the RTÉ Choice Music Prize
“Following a lengthy deliberation and some very stiff competition, we deemed Watermark the most worthy recipient for this year’s Classic Irish Album award,” they said.
“Not only is Enya’s second record a remarkable piece of work for its time, but it has endured across the 37 years since its release and continues to inspire and influence generations of musicians to this day. Alongside her producer and arranger Nicky Ryan and lyricist Roma Ryan, Enya essentially pioneered a new genre of music with Watermark, blending her traditional Irish background with elements of ambient, world, choral and pop music and her innovative layered vocal technique that can be heard on songs like Storms in Africa, Cursum Perficio and of course, the iconic Orinoco Flow. It was commercially successful on a global scale, yet the panel agreed that Enya is often underestimated or perhaps misunderstood by many. It felt like an apt opportunity to acknowledge her visionary work as both a vocalist and a musician – and Watermark, in all its strange, evocative beauty, comprehensively fulfils the criteria for a ‘classic album’.”
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