Enya's Watermark wins RTÉ Choice Music Classic Irish Album Prize

Enya's 1988 album Watermark has been announced as the winner of the RTÉ Choice Music Prize for Classic Irish Album of the Year.

"I am delighted to win the RTÉ Choice Music Classic Album Prize," said Enya. "Watermark has a special place in my heart - it was my second album and really launched my career internationally."

📣 RTÉ CHOICE MUSIC PRIZE CLASSIC IRISH ALBUM OF THE YEAR

Enya’s @official_enya iconic album ‘Watermark’ has been named the Classic Irish Album of the Year 2024 👏

Released in 1988, it includes single ‘Orinoco Flow’ & has sold over 11 million copies to date 🏆 #rtechoiceprize pic.twitter.com/5KeQgN0nzB

— RTÉ Choice Music (@choiceprize) February 20, 2025

The deciding panel of judges said the album was chosen because it "has endured across 37 years since its release" and "continues to inspire and influence" new musicians. They praised Enya's innovative work, saying the record "essentially pioneered a new genre of music."

"It was commercially successful on a global scale, yet the panel agreed that Enya is often underestimated or perhaps misunderstood by many," the panel added. "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’.”

The Classic Album of the Year Award began in 2022, with Sinéad O'Connor's I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got winning that year, and U2's Achtung Baby winning in 2023.

The 20th RTÉ Choice Music Awards will be held live at Vicar Street on Thursday, March 6, with performances from A Lazarus Soul, Curtisy, Orla Gartland, NewDad, Niamh Regan, Róis, Silverback, and SPRINTS.

Shortlists for Irish Album of the Year, Irish Arist of the Year, Breakthrough Irish Artist of the Year, and Irish Song of the Year were announced throughout January earlier this year.

Listen to Watermark below.