"I could have been more famous if I did all the glitzy things, but celebrity always seemed so unnecessary"
About this Quote
The subtext is control. Enya’s career is a case study in how to be massively present in people’s lives while staying physically absent from the spectacle. Her music has scored weddings, funerals, yoga studios, and movie trailers - a kind of omnipresence that doesn’t require her to become a character in the endless reality show of pop culture. “Unnecessary” is the quiet knife: she frames celebrity not as a sacrifice she nobly declines, but as a redundant add-on to the actual work.
Context sharpens the point. She emerged from an industry that increasingly monetized artists’ personalities as much as their songs, especially as MTV, late-night circuits, and later social media turned promotion into performance. Enya’s brand of privacy reads almost radical in that ecosystem. The line also functions as self-mythmaking, but in an anti-myth key: an artist insisting that mystique isn’t a marketing trick, it’s a lifestyle choice. In an attention economy, opting out isn’t just taste - it’s power.
Quote Details
| Topic | Humility |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Enya. (2026, January 17). I could have been more famous if I did all the glitzy things, but celebrity always seemed so unnecessary. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-could-have-been-more-famous-if-i-did-all-the-59817/
Chicago Style
Enya. "I could have been more famous if I did all the glitzy things, but celebrity always seemed so unnecessary." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-could-have-been-more-famous-if-i-did-all-the-59817/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I could have been more famous if I did all the glitzy things, but celebrity always seemed so unnecessary." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-could-have-been-more-famous-if-i-did-all-the-59817/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.



