{"id":576644,"date":"2026-07-31T05:33:28","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T05:33:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/576644\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T05:33:28","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T05:33:28","slug":"barack-obama-remembers-great-musician-glen-hansard-after-death-at-56","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/576644\/","title":{"rendered":"Barack Obama remembers \u2018great musician\u2019 Glen Hansard after death at 56"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former US president Barack Obama has remembered \u201cgreat musician\u201d Glen Hansard after his \u201ctragic\u201d death.<\/p>\n

The Oscar-winning musician, best known as the frontman of The Frames, died aged 56 in a motorcycle crash in Dublin on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Mr Obama, 64, joined the galaxy of stars paying tribute to Hansard as he shared his annual summer playlist to Instagram on Thursday.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/x.com\/BarackObama\/status\/2082862654549299340?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/p>\n

The Democrat included Song Of Good Hope on the playlist, which is a beloved acoustic track by the Ballymun-born star.<\/p>\n

He wrote: \u201cIt starts with a song Michelle and I love by Glen Hansard, a great musician who passed tragically this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur hearts go out to his family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Others who have paid tribute over the past day include US singer and actress Emily Osment, who rose to fame in Disney Channel sitcom Hannah Montana.<\/p>\n

The 34-year-old shared a video performing with Hansard, which she described as \u201cone of the greatest nights of my life\u201d, as she remembered a \u201cbeautiful human gone too soon\u201d.<\/p>\n

Osment said: \u201cI\u2019m so grateful for the hours I spent in my bedroom in high school immersing myself in the inimitable songwriting that came from the soul of Glen Hansard. It truly shaped me.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you for giving us all of you to listen to forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Northern Irish folk singer Cara Dillon also shared a post performing with Hansard to Instagram as she mourned the \u201chuge loss\u201d.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cI last sang with him a couple of years ago and he brought a truly infectious energy. You felt the presence of an extraordinary soul.<\/p>\n

\u201cCondolences to his family and friends at this awful time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Billie Eilish was also among the celebrities remembering Hansard, and reposted a lengthy tribute shared by her mother Maggie.<\/p>\n

Over the post, which included many pictures of the Eilish family meeting Hansard, the chart-topper said: \u201cDevastated\u2026 Wouldn\u2019t be who I am today without Glen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her brother Finneas, a fellow musician, shared the sentiment and praised Hansard as the \u201cmost wonderful person\u201d, saying he felt like a \u201cheartbroken fan\u201d in his own tribute.<\/p>\n

The daughter of musician Eddie Vedder, who was a friend of Hansard, commented: \u201cI love him so much, he loved you so much.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hansard has also been remembered by Bono, Ed Sheeran and Bruce Springsteen, with the latter praising him as \u201ca great musician, a good friend and a generous and gracious man\u201d.<\/p>\n

U2 frontman Bono remembered the fellow Dublin man as an \u201cangelic presence\u201d who \u201creally was who you thought he was\u201d, and praised his work fundraising for the homeless.<\/p>\n

US star Rachel Zegler, who performed on stage with Hansard in 2024, shared several photos with the singer which she captioned: \u201cOh I will love you forever. Rest now, my friend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Comedian and actor Chris O\u2019Dowd said he could not believe the singer \u201cleft the world so terribly early\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis energising melodies and soulful, searching voice made the tough times more manageable, the stagnant times more beautiful, and the joyful times even more memorable,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Dowd\u2019s wife, writer and presenter Dawn O\u2019Porter, shared a picture of Hansard to Instagram and praised him as \u201cthe loveliest man\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sorry to everyone who will feel this so deeply. His family. The saddest news,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Andrea Corr, lead singer of The Corrs, praised Hansard as \u201ca beautiful artist and man\u201d while rock band Aslan said they were \u201cdevastated\u201d to learn of his death.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Heavy<\/p>\n

Entertainment<\/p>\n

Heavy traffic enroute to All Together Now festival<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Others to pay tribute include Irish musicians Bob Geldof, Cait O\u2019Riordan and Hozier, as well as US songwriter and actor Lin-Manuel Miranda and former The Late Late Show host Ryan Tubridy.<\/p>\n

Hansard has also been remembered by political figures across Ireland, including President Catherine Connolly, Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin and deputy premier Simon Harris.<\/p>\n

The singer is survived by his wife, the Finnish poet Maire Saaritsa, and their three-year-old son Christy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former US president Barack Obama has remembered \u201cgreat musician\u201d Glen Hansard after his \u201ctragic\u201d death. The Oscar-winning musician,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":576645,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[93,61,60],"class_list":["post-576644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576644","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=576644"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576644\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/576645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=576644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=576644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=576644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}