In early 1997 , Enya began to select tracks for her first compilation album , " trying to select the obvious ones , the hits , and others . " She chose to work on the collection following the promotional tour for '' The Memory of Trees '' as she felt it was the right time in her career , and that her contract with WEA required her to release a " best of " album . The set , named '' Paint the Sky with Stars : The Best of Enya '' , features two new tracks , " Paint the Sky with Stars " and " Only If ... " . Released in November 1997 , the album was a worldwide commercial success , reaching No. 4 in the UK and No. 30 in the US , where it went on to sell over 4 million copies . " Only If ... " was released as a single in 1997 . Enya described the album as " like a musical diary ... each melody has a little story and I live through that whole story from the beginning ... your mind goes back to that day and what you were thinking . " Enya started work on her fifth studio album , titled '' A Day Without Rain '' , in mid-1998 . In a departure from her previous albums she incorporated the use of a string section into her compositions , something that was not a conscious decision at first , but Enya and Nicky Ryan agreed it complemented the songs that were being written . The album was released in November 2000 , and reached number 6 in the United Kingdom and an initial peak of number 17 in the United States . In the aftermath of the 11 September attacks , sales of the album and its lead single , " Only Time " , surged after the song was widely used during radio and television coverage of the events , leading to its description as " a post-September 11 anthem " . The exposure caused '' A Day Without Rain '' to outperform its original chart performance to peak at number 2 on the '' Billboard '' 200 , and the release of a maxi single containing the original and a pop remix of " Only Time " in November 2001 . Enya donated its proceeds in aid of the International Association of Firefighters . The song topped the '' Billboard '' Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart and went to number 10 on the Hot 100 singles , Enya 's highest charting US single to date . A second single , " Wild Child " , was released in December 2001 . '' A Day Without Rain '' remains Enya 's biggest seller , with 7 million copies sold in the US and the most sold new-age album of all time with an estimated 13 million copies sold worldwide
11 September attacks
September 11 attacks
Enya