Enya

“Singing in Gaelic is very, very natural to do. I think lends itself very much so to being sung.”

“I am really a very shy person. If I appear, it is because of the music, not because I want to be seen.”

“I could have been more famous if I did all the glitzy things, but celebrity always seemed so unnecessary.”

“I didn't expect such a huge reaction, but I knew I was doing something different to everything else that was happening at the time.”

“I am privileged to do a job I love to do. I would never change any moment from my life.”

“I tend to listen to the classical composers: Rachmaninov, Satie.”

“I know every note in every song, the whole history of it, even parts that were there and are gone.”

“I am not reclusive. I just have a private life.”

“Over in the UK, the music press can be brutal. They can say wonderful things about you one week, and the next week, you're in the can.”

“When making music I sink myself into the process as deeply as I can and forget all of the success.”

“Writing music on your own makes you think a lot about your life. Who are you? Would you change anything about yourself? This is where it comes from.”

“The fans are very, very loyal. They're always saying, 'When is the next album?' They know when I finish in the studio it's got to be a few years before the next album.”

“I do promotion when it is necessary, but I always want to get back to the music.”

“When I was growing up, I'd be in the choir. My mum was the organist in the church, so I'd sing in the church.”

“People tend to think that because I need all this time on my own in the studio, that I need time on my own, period. And that's not really true.”

“There is no formula to it. Writing every song is a little journey. The first note has to lift you.”

“I do a so-called trip into myself: I sit down at the piano and the melody might start to evolve from my playing or then I might start to sing it.”

“It's very easy for me to keep a low profile because the focus I feel is always on the music. Success and fame are two different things. And so I feel the success is always towards the music, which means that I can have a very normal and private lifestyle.”

“I'm not one for walking the beaches humming a melody. I love the discipline of sitting in the studio, writing and listening. That is my domain.”

“Fame and success are very different things.”