Growing up in the Dublin<\/a> suburb of Ballymun<\/a>, not a million miles away from the blighted setting of the 1991 film The Commitments, Hansard didn\u2019t need to use method acting to play the character of Outspan Foster, guitarist in the titular soul band in the Alan Parker-directed adaptation of Roddy Doyle<\/a>\u2019s debut novel.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t make a big song and dance about it, but I grew up witnessing hardship among friends, family,\u201d he told The Irish Times earlier this year. \u201cBallymun gets a bad rap, but it was an incredible community.\u201d<\/p>\n He was born Glen James Hansard, one of six children of James and Catherine Hansard, and his early childhood by all accounts was made difficult by his father\u2019s drinking and occasional bouts of violence. When an uncle of Glen\u2019s went to prison, he left behind a guitar, and Glen picked it up and began learning songs by Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan and Van Morrison. Struggling at school, he decided to quit and pursue a musical career. A teacher suggested he try busking on the streets of Dublin, \u201cstarting at the bottom rung of the musical ladder\u201d, and, if it didn\u2019t work out after a year, he could come back to school. <\/p>\n Performing on the street was \u201ca great leveller\u201d, Hansard told The Busking Project. \u201cNo one\u2019s there to hear you, you\u2019re essentially begging but you\u2019re doing it entertainingly. People can pass by and throw in a coin or they don\u2019t have to throw in a coin \u2013 it\u2019s a completely even playing field. <\/p>\n \u201cThe busking education sits at the core of everything I\u2019ve done since.\u201d<\/p>\n Hansard quickly became the uncrowned king of the Dublin buskers, and whenever he would arrive on the street with his guitar slung on his back, other buskers would pack up their gear, knowing they could not compete with this consummate street entertainer with an unerring ability to pull a big crowd. From his pitch on Grafton Street, Hansard got to know everyone in Dublin\u2019s music scene, forming close friendships with other buskers including Mic Christopher, and meeting fellow musicians with whom he formed The Frames.<\/p>\n The band\u2019s original line-up consisted of Hansard, guitarist Dave Odlum, singer Noreen O\u2019Donnell, bassist John Carney (who would later cast Hansard in his 2007 film Once), violinist Colm Mac Con Iomaire and drummer Paul Brennan. <\/p>\n When the call came from director Alan Parker to play the role of Outspan Foster in his film version of Roddy Doyle\u2019s The Commitments, Hansard was only too happy to answer. However, he refused to put aside his band, often leading to friction with the director when the filming schedule would clash with a Frames gig. <\/p>\n Chris Blackwell and Denny Cordell from Island Records had been keeping an eye on this charismatic young musician since before his role in The Commitments, and they signed The Frames to their label. But, despite the presence of Pixies producer Gil Norton on the credits, and an exuberant debut single, The Dancer, the band\u2019s debut album, Another Love Song, failed to gain much traction outside Ireland. They were dropped unceremoniously while the label\u2019s other Irish signing, Limerick band The Cranberries, broke big in the US and the UK. <\/p>\n \u201cThe Frames didn\u2019t fit into a particular colour or trend,\u201d Hansard told The Irish Times. \u201cBecause we came out of busking, I don\u2019t think we were ever a cool band in the sense of rock \u2019n\u2019 roll cred.\u201d<\/p>\n Being dropped from a major label was the catalyst for Hansard to plough his own musical furrow, and he approached Dave Allen from local Dublin venue Whelan\u2019s to provide some financial backing for the recording of The Frames\u2019 second album, Fitzcarraldo, in return for the band playing a series of shows at the venue for free. The venue had championed The Frames in their early days, but with the release of Fitzcarraldo and its brilliant lead single, the Pixies-influenced Revelate, the band attracted bigger crowds and longer queues to their Whelan\u2019s gigs.<\/p>\n By this time, Hansard had become Dublin\u2019s unofficial godfather of indie-folk, and Whelan\u2019s became a mecca for many young singer-songwriters hoping to catch some of the Hansard stardust, including Paddy Casey, Mundy and Damien Rice. In 2001, the scene was shaken by the death of Hansard\u2019s close friend Mic Christopher. The singer-songwriter died in a fall while on tour in the Netherlands promoting his acclaimed album Skylarkin\u2019. <\/p>\n Following The Frames\u2019 superb For The Birds album in 2001, Hansard began to stretch his musical muscles, performing solo gigs and forming The Swell Season with Czech-Icelandic pianist and singer Mark\u00e9ta Irglov\u00e1. When director Carney, the former bass player with The Frames, was making his debut feature film, Once, about two struggling musicians who fall in love, he recruited Hansard and Irglov\u00e1 to play the lead characters, and to write the soundtrack. <\/p>\n The film\u2019s lead single, Falling Slowly, composed by Hansard and Irglov\u00e1, won the Oscar for Best Original Song at the 80th Academy Awards in Hollywood in February 2008, and the film was later adapted into a successful musical stage show, with playwright Enda Walsh writing the book. The show became a Broadway and West End hit, winning eight Tony awards and an Olivier award.<\/p>\n With an 18-year age gap between them, Hansard and Irglov\u00e1 became romantic as well as musical partners. The relationship ended after a couple of years. Their musical bond, however, remained strong and they continued to perform together, and recently wrapped up a successful tour with The Swell Season. <\/p>\n In 2012, Hansard launched his solo career with the album Rhythm and Repose, an altogether rootsier affair than his albums with The Frames, following up with four more acclaimed solo albums, including his final release in 2023, All That Was East Is West of Me Now.<\/p>\n![\"Glen](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IP5V4MZIZ67MVMCUF2YDJK7LYQ.jpg\")
Glen Hansard with The Frames in 2004. Photograph: Garrett White\/Collins <\/p>\n![\"Glen](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ONQ7BSPWFT6WIOL35KIO5FEWOU.jpg\")
Glen Hansard and Mark\u00e9ta Irglov\u00e1 in 2009. Photograph: Damon Winter\/The New York Times
\n ![\"Glen](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1785367213_284_RE77HUD4P5AVHDS4EVG6EXZ64M.jpg\")
Glen Hansard and Mark\u00e9ta Irglov\u00e1 at the Oscars in 2008 in Los Angeles. Photograph: Michael Caulfield\/WireImage <\/p>\n
![\"Glen](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SMWLMH27GJGRPGHRKBR3KRY3TQ.jpg\")
Glen Hansard at the annual Christmas Eve busk for Simon Community, outside the Gaiety Theatre in 2025. Photograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill\/The Irish Times<\/p>\n