Enigma

Emerging as a fixture in worldbeat dance from the late twentieth century onward, Enigma achieved global sales exceeding tens of millions of albums through their singular fusion of new age textures, relaxed club production, and Gregorian chant excerpts. The ensemble launched via the 1991 release of single "Sadeness (Pt. I)," which rapidly registered as an international success and emblem of their distinctive approach. Across the following three decades, the project issued more than eight albums and compilations, with numerous entries registering on Billboard charts.

Bucharest native Michael Cretu assembled Enigma in 1990 after prior music experience that encompassed multiple solo albums and production work for additional performers. While producing his wife, German dance-pop artist Sandra, for her 1987 single "Everlasting Love," Cretu incorporated brief Gregorian chant excerpts into the introduction, sparking his interest in blending such historical elements with modern formats. Following the couple's 1988 relocation to Ibiza, Spain, Cretu developed material in a home studio for what became Enigma, recording initial tracks during 1990 alongside input from David Fairstein and Frank Peterson. The debut album MCMXC a.D. appeared in December of that year, with lead single "Sadeness (Pt. I)" achieving immediate breakout status; fueled by this momentum, the album attained multi-platinum standing, surpassing four million copies sold in the United States alone while remaining on the Billboard Top 200 chart for five subsequent years. Additional singles followed as the album sustained unexpected visibility, though heavy employment of uncleared Gregorian chant samples prompted a lawsuit resolved through out-of-court settlement.

Their 1993 follow-up, Cross of Changes, retained select archaic components yet emphasized a new age perspective across polished, radio-accessible dance-pop selections, substituting flute samples and breathy spoken vocals from the prior release with Native American singing excerpts, most notably on hit single "Return to Innocence." The album secured the group's second number-one placement on U.K. charts and moved several million units. Enigma 3: Le Roi Est Mort, Vive le Roi! emerged in 1996.

Although initial excitement around the band had subsided by the arrival of 2000's Screen Behind the Mirror, a devoted Enigma audience sustained the endeavor even as the album missed platinum certification. The ensuing year brought greatest-hits collection Love Sensuality Devotion: The Greatest Hits, which gathered principal singles alongside new offering "Turn Around." Production adjustments toward a lighter touch marked fifth studio album Voyageur in 2003, succeeded by A Posteriori in 2006. Enigma's seventh studio effort, Seven Lives Many Faces, appeared in 2008 and extended their Billboard 200 presence. The Platinum Collection, a three-disc package allocating one disc each to greatest hits, remixes, and unreleased material, received worldwide distribution in 2010. That year also marked the anniversary of MCMXC a.D. through single "MMX (The Social Song)."

Enigma resurfaced in 2016 with concept album The Fall of a Rebel Angel, which incorporated contributions from Indonesian vocalist Anggun, Israel's Nanuk, British electro-pop duo Aquilo, and Brazilian singer/songwriter Mark Josher; the set was introduced by single "Sadeness (Part II)" and issued in November 2016.