Nicky Ryan, Architect of Enya’s Sound, Dies – Tributes flood In
Nicky Ryan, the producer and manager instrumental in the global success of Irish singer Enya, has died. The news has prompted an outpouring of grief from fans and fellow musicians, recognizing Ryan’s pivotal role in crafting the distinctive sound that propelled Enya to selling over 80 million albums worldwide.
President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins issued a statement expressing his remorse, saying, “May I join with all those who have expressed their sadness on learning of the death of Nicky Ryan… (His) contribution to Enya’s music was immense. Together with the lyrical skill of his partner, Roma Ryan, Nicky’s production played a major role in Enya’s enormous global success, underpinning her work with a distinctive sound which has made so much of Enya’s work unique. May I express my deepest condolences to Roma, to their daughters persia and ebony, to Enya and to all those with whom Nicky collaborated, and to his many friends and colleagues.”
Ryan’s connection to Enya began with the band Clannad, where he initially worked as a sound engineer and later became their manager.He was the one who brought a young Enya Brennan into the group, stating, “I knew Enya could sing, so I brought her into the group. It was my suggestion not Clannad’s.reluctantly she said she would join us. From that moment on I felt responsible for her future,” as he later told the Irish Times.
Enya afterward launched a solo career in 1981, moving in with Ryan, his wife Roma, and their daughters Ebony and Persia, at their home in Artane, Dublin. There, they established a 16-track studio where Enya developed her signature sound over the next decade.
nicky Ryan and Roma Ryan collaborated closely with Enya, their partnership proving crucial to her international breakthrough. Their last joint project was the 2015 album Dark Sky Island,which reached number 4 in the UK charts.
Tributes have been shared widely on social media,with one fan writing,”I’m still so gutted over Nicky Ryan’s death. him and Enya made magic together, some of the greatest of all time.” Niall Stokes, editor of Hot Press magazine, described Ryan as “a fully shocking loss of one of Ireland’s all-time greats,” praising “the great maverick strain that he had in his approach to life and to music.”
Nicky Ryan is survived by his wife of over five decades, Roma, his daughters ebony and Persia, grandchildren, siblings, and extended family, and also his “beloved friend and colleague” enya.