{"id":831822,"date":"2026-07-29T18:36:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T18:36:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/831822\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T18:36:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T18:36:13","slug":"glen-hansard-oscar-winning-once-musician-dead-at-56","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/831822\/","title":{"rendered":"Glen Hansard, Oscar-Winning ‘Once’ Musician, Dead at 56"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tGlen Hansard<\/a>, the singer-songwriter who achieved international fame starring in the 2007 drama Once<\/a> and fronted the rock band the Frames and the duo Swell Season, died today in a motorcycle crash in Dublin. Garda\u00ed and emergency services were called to the scene shortly before 4:30 a.m. after receiving reports of a single vehicle collision. ATC Management, which represented him, confirmed Hansard\u2019s death. He was 56.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cGlen\u2019s family is deeply shocked and heartbroken by this tragic loss and respectfully requests privacy at this extremely difficult time,\u201d a statement reads. \u201cThe family is grateful for the support they have received and wishes to thank the emergency services who attended the scene. As this matter remains the subject of an active Garda investigation, no further comment will be made at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe singer-songwriter won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for \u201cFalling Slowly,\u201d which he wrote and performed in Once alongside his co-star and former partner Mark\u00e9ta Irglov\u00e1. The film told the story of a \u201cguy\u201d (Hansard) and a \u201cgirl\u201d (Irglov\u00e1); the guy is a busker who falls in love with the girl, a Czech pianist, and the couple write and perform songs that tell their love story over the course of a week in Dublin. Hansard\u2019s onetime Frames bandmate, John Carney, wrote and directed the picture. The movie was later developed into a Broadway musical, which won eight Tony awards.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe just couldn\u2019t believe it kept on winning all those awards,\u201d Hansard told Rolling Stone<\/a> in 2012. \u201cAfter the ceremony, I was so floored and blown away by the whole thing that I went and took a 40-block walk, just to clear my head.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe role of a busker wasn\u2019t difficult for Hansard, who was born in Dublin on April 21, 1970, since he\u2019d begun his career singing in the Irish capital\u2019s streets as a teenager. He had a difficult upbringing as he characterized his father as a violent alcoholic, but he found solace in playing a guitar his uncle had left behind when he had to serve time in prison, according to The New York Times<\/a>. He drew inspiration from Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, and Van Morrison. He would later campaign to raise awareness for homelessness and the housing crisis in Dublin, performing at the Christmas Eve Busk benefit concert to help people at risk.<\/p>\n

\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Frames came together in 1990, but Hansard first came to wider attention a year later when he appeared in Alan Parker\u2019s film The Commitments<\/a>, as guitarist Outspan Foster. The movie, a musical comedy, told the story of a soul-music band that formed in Ireland.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Frames released their debut LP, Another Love Song, in 1991, and it was a minor hit in Ireland. Subsequent albums fared better, and their 2001 album, For the Birds, became their breakthrough. Both the 2003 live album, Set List, and the studio album Burn the Maps, released in 2004, charted at Number One in the country and helped them to establish a following outside of the Emerald Isle. Their 2006 album, The Cost, registered on Billboard\u2019s Heatseekers chart.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt was 2007\u2019s Once that proved to be one of Hansard\u2019s most beloved and enduring works. The film grossed $23 million worldwide. Hansard and Irglov\u00e1 had been performing together as a duo called the Swell Season since 2005. On again and off again, they began playing together again in 2022 and released three albums overall. Strict Joy, released in 2009, made it up to Number 15 in the U.S.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe success occasionally felt burdensome for Hansard as an artist. \u201cOnce\u00a0was a wonderful, wonderful chapter in my career, and in my life, but it also kind of designated me as the folky guy,\u201d he told Rolling Stone in 2019. \u201cIf you look at my career before\u00a0Once, the music was quite different. I don\u2019t want to spend the rest of my life regurgitating that incredible moment. I\u2019m still behind every song on the\u00a0Once\u00a0record, 100 percent, but it doesn\u2019t mean that I\u2019m restricted to being that guy.\u201d He released his first solo album, Rhythm and Repose in, in 2012.<\/p>\n

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\n\tIn 2022, he announced the birth of his son, Christy, with his partner, Finnish poet Maire Saaritsa. Paying tribute, the Waterboys\u2019 Mike Scott said: \u201cJust heard that Glen Hansard has died. Travel on well, Buddy. You made your dreams come true. I\u2019m so sorry that he leaves his wife and 3-year-old child.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHansard was also admired by artists such as Joni Mitchell and Bruce Springsteen, memorably performing with the latter on a live cover of \u201cDrive All Night\u201d at Kilkenny\u2019s Downlan Park in 2013. He also performed \u201cFairytale of New York\u201d alongside Lisa O\u2019Neill at Shane MacGowan\u2019s funeral in December 2023.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cHere on E Street, we are heartbroken over the death of Glen Hansard,\u201d Springsteen wrote in a statement. \u201cWe met in Ireland many years ago and he was always nothing but a great musician, a good friend and a generous and gracious man. Always positive, smiling and ready to sing. God bless him and his loved ones.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIreland\u2019s prime minister, Miche\u00e1l Martin, paid his respects on social media<\/a>, calling Hansard \u201ca talented musician and actor who made a significant contribution to Ireland\u2019s cultural landscape over many years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHansard, who received a Grammy nomination for his 2015 solo album, Didn\u2019t He Ramble<\/a>, stayed active in music up until his death and released the second volume of his album Don+t Settle \u2013 Transmissions East & West last month.<\/p>\n

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\n\tIn 2018, Hansard told Rolling Stone<\/a> that what kept him motivated was doing new things. \u201cThe biggest fear an artist has is stagnation and repetition,\u201d he said. \u201cThe older I get the more I realize I don\u2019t know a fucking thing. And what a joy to be able to really own that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThis story is developing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Glen Hansard, the singer-songwriter who achieved international fame starring in the 2007 drama Once and fronted the rock…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":831823,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[64,63,447,134,51768,56322,9118],"class_list":["post-831822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-glen-hansard","tag-obit","tag-obituary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/831822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=831822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/831822\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/831823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=831822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=831822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=831822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}