{"id":575035,"date":"2026-07-30T06:45:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T06:45:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/575035\/"},"modified":"2026-07-30T06:45:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T06:45:09","slug":"glen-hansard-from-busking-on-dublins-streets-to-accepting-an-oscar-in-hollywood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/575035\/","title":{"rendered":"Glen Hansard: From busking on Dublin’s streets to accepting an Oscar in Hollywood\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Glen Hansard was a student at Ballymun Comprehensive in the early 1980s, his headmaster would joke that while the aspiring young songwriter knew nothing at all about school he was a genius at music. \u201cI\u2019d get sent to the office for not paying attention or whatever, he\u2019d say, \u2018You\u2019re a funny one. You can name the bass player on Neil Young\u2019s Harvest, you can tell me the track-listing on Bob Dylan\u2019s Street Legal, but you can\u2019t tell me the square root of 9\u2019,\u201d Hansard would later joke.<\/p>\n

Born on the northside of Dublin in 1970, Hansard left school aged 13 and devoted his entire life to music. He began by busking on the streets of the capital, later striking up a friendship with other young musicians around Dublin, including Cork songwriter Fergus O\u2019Farrell of Interference and Mic Christopher, late of the Mary Janes – both of whom would die young.<\/p>\n

Going busking while a teenage had been the suggestion of a supportive teacher – who saw that Hansard had a gift. \u201cHe encouraged me to leave school. He said, \u2018Take your guitar into town and start busking\u2019. His thing was that busking was where you learned your skills. He said, \u2018I can\u2019t guarantee you\u2019ll be famous, but if you start now, then you\u2019ll always be able to live from your guitar\u2019. And he was right. I have.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"GlenGlen Hansard in 2003 with other members of The Frames,\u00a0Rob Bochnik,\u00a0 Joseph Doyle and Colm Mac Con Iomaire. Picture: Gareth Chaney Collins<\/p>\n

\u00a0Hansard did more than learn a crust from his guitar. As a star of The Commitments, frontman of The Frames, and as one half of the Swell Season with Mark\u00e9ta Irglov\u00e1 , Hansard would ascent to rarefied heights in music.<\/p>\n

He first achieved fame with Alan Parker\u2019s 1991 adaptation of The Commitments, playing the scampish guitarist Outspan. The role came to define him for many years and for a while it seemed he and the Frames would live forever in the shadow of Outspan, though he made peace with the character, as he would later tell the Irish Examiner.\n <\/p>\n

\u201cOutspan Foster has followed me around. It\u2019s a wonderful caricature to be known as. And it was an amazing experience, The Commitments.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

He was by that point already fronting The Frames, an indie band that ended up singing with ZTT, the UK pop label best known for Frankie Goes To Hollywood and which was the brainchild of music writer Paul Morley and producer Trevor Horn. It was an uneasy fit. While The Frames received acclaim for their 1995 album, Fitzcarraldo, mainstream success had appeared to pass them by. He was grateful to ZTT however for letting The Frames out of their contract so they could record their 2001 LP, For the Birds. That record that saw the group turn a corner and find their voice.<\/p>\n

\u201cPaul Morley had a brilliant mind \u2013 my god, what a mind .Some of the best conversations about career and stuff I\u2019ve ever had were with him,\u201d said Hansard. \u201cTrevor was our producer and head of the label. Trevor was much more aloof. Trevor was a big smoker.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was always on the vibe. Paul was the guy you had a deep conversation with. When I delivered the demo for [the Frame\u2019s 2001 lo-fi classic] For The Birds to Paul, I said, \u2018Look Paul \u2013 you know, and I know\u2026that this band and these songs and this label are a not a good mix. Will you have a word with Trevor and let us go? This is where we\u2019re at. He was like, \u2018you\u2019re right\u2026 you\u2019re absolutely right\u2019.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\u00a0Glen\u00a0Glen Hansard at F\u00e9ile na Laoch\u00a0 with President Michael D Higgins in C\u00fail Aodha, Co Cork, in 2018. Picture: Paul Reardon<\/p>\n

\u00a0The Frames were still a going concern when he was cajoled into starring as a down at heel musician in an independent movie directed by his old friend (and former Frames member) John Carney, after the film\u2019s original star, Cillian Murphy dropped out.<\/p>\n

It cast him opposite Mark\u00e9ta Irglov\u00e1, with whom he was recorded as The Swell Season – and yielded the hit Falling Slowly, a ballad inspired by the weather forecast and which won the Oscar for best original song. That accolade changed his life and he sometimes found it difficult to cope That was before a friend – Bruce Springsteen – took him aside and offered some advice.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said you\u2019ve been in a band for 18 years. It\u2019s you and them against the world. Suddenly the world takes notice. The light is shone on you. You\u2019re no longer the guy who struggled,\u201d Hansard told the Examiner. \u201cYou\u2019re the guy who has had success. The one who has success is a new person to you. The one who struggled suddenly has nowhere to go \u2013 his prayers have been answered. If you\u2019ve been struggling for18 years, what do you do when success comes? You struggle: struggle is your mode. You\u2019re figuring it out. Do yourself a favour. Mark your success. If you don\u2019t, the day your ship comes in might be just another day at the office.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0In recent years, Hansard has toured with The Frames, but also focused on his solo career, releasing a series of well-received records. In 2022 he and his partner, Finnish poet, Maire Saaritsa, had a baby boy Christy, and divide their time between Ireland and Helsinki. He had been due to begin an Irish tour in October. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Glen Hansard was a student at Ballymun Comprehensive in the early 1980s, his headmaster would joke that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":575036,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[321,93,61,60,6405],"class_list":["post-575035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-music-movies-reviews-munster"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=575035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575035\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/575036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=575035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=575035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=575035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}