Enya Patricia Brennan is an Irish singer, songwriter and musician, known for pioneering modern Celtic and New-age music. Regarded as the "Queen of New Age", Enya is the best-selling Irish solo artist in history, and second-best-selling overall behind U2. Born into a musical family and raised in the Irish-speaking area of Gweedore, County Donegal, Enya began her music career when she joined her family's Celtic folk band Clannad in 1980 on keyboards and backing vocals. She left the group in 1982 with their manager and producer Nicky Ryan to pursue a solo career, with Ryan's wife Roma Ryan as her lyricist. Enya developed her sound over the following four years with multitracked vocals and keyboards with elements of new age, Celtic, classical, church, world, pop, and Irish folk. Thus far, she has sung in ten languages, most notably English, Irish Gaelic (Gaeilge), Latin, and Welsh.
The Cranberries were an Irish rock band formed in Limerick, Ireland. Originally named the Cranberry Saw Us, the band were formed in 1989 by lead singer Niall Quinn, guitarist Noel Hogan, bassist Mike Hogan, and drummer Fergal Lawler. Quinn was replaced as lead singer by Dolores O'Riordan in 1990, and they changed their name to the Cranberries. The band classified themselves as an alternative rock group, but incorporated aspects of indie rock, jangle pop, folk rock, post-punk, and pop rock into their sound.
Shirley Elizabeth Collins MBE is an English folk singer who was a significant contributor to the English Folk Revival of the 1960s and 1970s. She often performed and recorded with her sister Dolly, whose accompaniment on piano and portative organ created unique settings for Shirley's plain, austere singing style.
The Kick Inside is the debut studio album by English art rock singer Kate Bush. Released on 17 February 1978 by EMI Records, it includes her UK No. 1 hit, "Wuthering Heights". The album peaked at No. 3 on the UK Albums Chart and has been certified Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). The production included efforts by several progressive rock veterans, including Duncan Mackay, Ian Bairnson, David Paton, Andrew Powell, and Stuart Elliott of the Alan Parsons Project, and David Gilmour of Pink Floyd.
Róisín Marie Murphy is an Irish singer, songwriter, and record producer. She first became known in the 1990s as one half of the pop duo Moloko alongside English musician Mark Brydon. After the breakup of Moloko, she embarked on a solo career and released her debut solo album Ruby Blue to critical praise in 2005. Her second solo album, Overpowered, was released in 2007.
Eulaulah Donyll "Lalah" Hathaway is an American singer. In 1990, Hathaway released her self-titled album. A Moment was released in 1994, debuting at number 34 on the Top R&B albums chart. In 1999, she collaborated with Joe Sample on the album The Song Lives On. After a five-year hiatus, she returned with her fourth album, Outrun the Sky (2004). The single "Forever, For Always, For Love" peaked at number 1 on the Hot Adult R&B Airplay.
Ai Carina Uemura, known mononymously as Ai, is a Japanese-American singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, spokeswoman, and actress.
Bell X1 are an Irish rock band from County Kildare. The group consists of Paul Noonan, David Geraghty and Dominic Phillips.
"Anything Is Possible" is a song co-written by Chris Braide and Cathy Dennis for the winner of the first series of Pop Idol in the United Kingdom. Will Young won the competition and therefore released the song as his debut single, with production by Dennis and Oskar Paul. It debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart, and has been certified 3x platinum by the British Phonographic Industry. It has since become the 14th best-selling single of all time in the UK, as well as the second best-selling UK single of the 21st century.
Catherine "Cathy" Davey is an Irish singer-songwriter. She has released one extended play, "Come Over" (2004), and four albums, Something Ilk (2004), Tales of Silversleeve (2007), The Nameless (2010) and New Forest (2016). Her second album garnered her a 2007 Choice Music Prize nomination and the 2008 Meteor Award for Best Irish Female and spawned a number of successful singles, including "Reuben", "Moving", and "Sing for Your Supper". The Nameless was the top selling album in Ireland upon the week of its release. It was also nominated for the Choice Music Prize.
Lisa Margaret Hannigan is an Irish musician, singer, composer, and voice actress. She began her musical career as a member of Damien Rice's band. Since beginning her solo career in 2007 she has released three albums: Sea Sew (2008), Passenger (2011), and At Swim (2016). Hannigan's music has received award nominations both in Ireland and the United States. Hannigan also received attention in North America for her role as Blue Diamond in Steven Universe, an American animated television series created by Rebecca Sugar.
"The Man with the Child in His Eyes" is a song by Kate Bush. It is the fifth track on her debut album The Kick Inside and was released as her second single, on the EMI label, in 1978.
A summary of the year 2004 in the Irish music industry.
Sea Sew is the debut studio album released by Lisa Hannigan. It was released in Ireland on 12 September 2008, with the lead single, "Lille", made available as a free download on lisahannigan.ie on 25 August.
Even Better Than the Disco Thing is an Irish charity album released by the commercial FM radio station, Today FM, for the Christmas market on 21 November 2008. The album features covers of well-known disco songs by a selection of Irish musicians. Disc one features sixteen tracks, whilst disc two is labelled "Mix CD" and contains twelve of the same sixteen tracks all over again. All the songs were performed and recorded live on The Ray D'Arcy Show. The title is a pun on the Even Better Than the Real Thing series of charity CDs recorded in previous years on D'Arcy's show, but temporarily discontinued after the third edition in 2005. They themselves are a reference to the U2 song "Even Better Than the Real Thing". Funds raised were donated to the National Children's Hospital and Barretstown.
Tales of Silversleeve is the second album released by Irish-born singer Cathy Davey. It was released on 12 October 2007 as the follow-up release to Davey's 2004 debut Something Ilk. The album contains eleven tracks, including the singles "Reuben", "Sing for Your Supper" and "Moving".
Giveamanakick—typeset as giveamanakick and abbreviated as GAMAK— were an Irish rock music duo from Limerick. The two band members were Stephen Ryan (Steveamanakick), the vocalist and guitarist, and Keith Lawler (Giveamanakeith), the drummer.
Villagers are an Irish indie folk band and the musical project of the sole long-term member, Conor J O'Brien who is a singer-songwriter based in Dublin, Ireland.. Widely known for his production, arrangements and thought-provoking lyrics, O-Brien currently releases Villagers material via Domino Recording Co.
"Once" is a song by English singer and songwriter Diana Vickers, written by Cathy Dennis and Eg White for Vickers' debut studio album, Songs from the Tainted Cherry Tree (2010). "Once" was produced and mixed by Mike Spencer and released as the album's lead single and Vickers' debut single on 16 April 2010. It reached number one on the UK Singles Chart, making it Vickers' most successful single release to date.
The Nameless is the third album released by Irish singer Cathy Davey. It was released on 7 May 2010 in Ireland as the follow-up to her 2007 second album Tales of Silversleeve. The first single from the album "Little Red" debuted on Cathy Davey's My Space page.
