Glen Hansard, Irish Singer-Songwriter and Once Star, Dies at 56

Glen Hansard, the Irish singer-songwriter best known for fronting the Frames and the Swell Season as well as co-starring in the 2007 musical drama Once, has died, according to his management. Hansard died from injuries he suffered in a motorcycle crash in Dublin this morning. He was 56.

A fixture of Ireland’s music scene for decades, Hansard was known for his rousing live performances on acoustic guitar and a voice that could travel far without a microphone. Whether busking on the streets or headlining shows at some of the world’s most prestigious venues, he brought a raw urgency to his music through raspy, strained, and emotional vocal peaks. With a music career spanning four decades, he was a key figure in his country’s music history, with Ireland’s prime minister Micheál Martin hailing him as “a talented musician and actor who made a significant contribution to Ireland’s cultural landscape over many years.”

Born in Dublin on April 21, 1970, Hansard was raised in a working-class household by an alcoholic father who frequently turned to domestic violence. Hansard learned guitar after his uncle left the instrument behind after being sent to prison, and he immediately took to its expansive range and ability to convey intense emotions. “My dad was quiet, angry, shut down, so my thing is: I express everything that’s there. I want to get it all out,” he told The New York Times. Soon enough, Hansard dropped out of school to busk and play in bands

In 1990, Hansard formed the Frames, a six-piece band that softed the edges of rock and occassionally incorporated folk music. The band became a pivotal part of Ireland’s music scene, with their debut album, 1991’s Another Love Song, coming out on Island before they moved to ZTT for 1995’s Fitzcarraldo and 1999’s Dance the Devil. By then, the Frames were a beloved staple in their home country, with their next three albums—2001’s For the Birds, 2004’s Burn the Maps, 2006’s The Cost—all soaring to the Top 10 section of Ireland’s Billboard charts and their live record, Set List, hitting No. 1.

Come 2005, Hansard formed the folk duo the Swell Season with Markéta Irglová. He met the Czech singer-songwriter years prior when she was 13 years old at a music festival organized by her parents in the Czech Republic. Within a year, they had written and released their self-titled debut LP, which featured the two trading off certain songs and joining together for duets on the other half. That dynamic influenced their work together on Once, with the album’s biggest hit, “Falling Slowly,” appearing on the movie’s future soundtrack. The two later dated during the promotion of the movie before breaking up in 2009.

Created on a $150,000 budget, Once is a romantic drama in which two strangers in Dublin are drawn toward one another through music. Director and former bassist in the Frames John Carney asked Hansard to compose the film’s music and ultimately cast him in the co-lead role opposite Irglová after his original casting choice, Cillian Murphy, struggled to hit the songs’ notes. Hansard and Irglová were both musicians but non-actors, and their subdued acting choices were later praised by critics for lending a humility and credibility to Once’s plot. The movie went on to gross over $20 million worldwide.

Once earned Hansard and Irglová two nominations at the Grammy Awards and a nomination for Best Original Song for “Falling Slowly” at the Academy Awards, which they won. In 2011, Once was adapted into a Broadway musical featuring Hansard and Irglová’s songs. It went on to win eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

“When [John Travolta] first goes ‘And the Oscar goes to…,’ from that point on for about two hours my mind is completely blank,” Hansard told Pitchfork a few days after their big win. “It’s almost like when your electricity trips out. My brain just kind of tripped out! I somehow got through it all. I switched into secondary brain power or something. But I literally forgot two hours of the evening… I gave the Oscar straight to my mother, so she has the real one hidden and gone home to Ireland already. My mother just wanted it immediately. It’s all about her, really. It’s all about my mother. She wants to hang onto it, so it’s gone home. She was there at the ceremony. I got her a ticket and we bought her a nice dress. It was great to see my mother sitting with all these people that she’s only seen on TV.”

Hansard continued busking the streets whenever the mood struck him. In 2010, he started Dublin’s annual Christmas Eve charity busk to raise money for the Dublin Simon Community, a charity helping people struggling with homelessness. The event regularly drew other musicians, including Bono, Shane MacGowan, and Sinéad O'Connor.

Figures across music and film have shared heartfelt tributes honoring Hansard, including Bruce Springsteen, the Mountain Goats, Cat Power, Warren Ellis, Chris O’Dowd, Rachel Zegler, and Courtney Marie Andrews. “Sometimes I would wonder if Glen Hansard really existed. Seriously, he was such an angelic presence,” U2 singer Bono wrote in a long tribute. “To be utterly yourself by being more interested in others – a clue for any of us trying out different personas. He really was who you thought he was. He could never walk by a person living rough without checking they were OK… and more than that, he worked very hard so that less people had to live on the streets in the first place.”