LAST UPDATE | 29 Jul

GLEN HANSARD, THE Oscar-winning songwriter and lead singer with Dublin band The Frames has died aged 56. 

He was killed in a road crash at the Strawberry Beds near Lucan in West Dublin in the early hours of this morning. 

Hansard and his group were a key part of the Irish music scene throughout the 1990s and 2000s, with their radio-friendly indie songs becoming staples of alternative rock radio shows and stations.

They performed widely across the country, making regular appearances at major music festivals like Oxegen and Electric Picnic.

His 2008 Oscar win for the song ‘Falling Slowly’ brought him to a new level of fame and new audiences, which he parlayed into a successful career with frequent solo tours across Ireland, Europe and North America.

In an earlier statement, which did not name the singer, gardaí said they responded to a motorcycle crash at Strawberry Beds, on the banks of the Liffey, at 4.30am this morning. 

The statement said a man in his 50s was treated at the scene but was later pronounced dead. There were no other vehicles involved in the crash. 

“With broken hearts we announce the passing of Glen Hansard in the early hours of this morning,” a statement from his management company, ATC, said.

Hansard was married to the Finnish poet Maire Saarista, with whom he had a young son. 

President Catherine Connolly has led the tributes to Hansard, describing him as one of Ireland’s great singer-songwriters.

Connolly added that Hansard would be remembered for his generosity, as well as being a driving influence of the Irish music world.

“Whether with the Frames, with Markéta, or as a solo artist, Glen was renowned for his incomparable live performances, beautiful evenings of music where Glen would regale audiences with stories as well as his music, along with that of many of those who had touched his life over the decades,” Connolly said.

“Glen was one of the vital driving influences of the Irish music world, bringing people together in the sharing of live music. He will be sorely missed by all who knew him or experienced his work.”

Early breakthrough 

After earning his musical chops as a busker, Hansard first came to prominence in the early 1990s through his role as guitarist Outspan Foster in the Dublin-set hit movie The Commitments. 

He combined forces with a group of other Dublin-based musicians, including violinist Colm Mac Con Iomaire and John Carney, now a successful film director, around the same time. 

The group had a number of Irish hits throughout the 1990s, with the driving guitar track Revelate amongst the best known from their early career.

Songs like Rent Day Blues and Star Star, from the 1999 album Dance the Devil, were inescapable to anyone tuning into the likes Ray D’Arcy’s daytime Today FM show or Dave Fanning on 2FM in the early-2000s. 

The group toured extensively across Europe and the US, but never achieved a major international breakthrough to mirror the success of the likes of U2 or The Cranberries.

Oscar winner 

It was the movie Once, directed by his old bandmate Carney, that brought Hansard his greatest success. The film’s soundtrack album, with all songs written by Hansard and his co-star Marketa Irglova, was a huge seller internationally and earned the pair the Oscar for the ballad Falling Slowly in 2008. 

Alongside his musical career Hansard was a prominent homelessness activist and charity fundraiser. He led a Christmas Eve busk to raise money for the Simon Community for the last 15 years. The event became a staple of the season in Dublin, with the likes of Bono and Imelda May becoming frequent guest stars. 

Hansard peforming at the 'Concert for Apollo House' after activists too over the building in December 2016. RollingNews.ie RollingNews.ie

He was also a prominent supporter of the Apollo House occupation in 2016, when a group of activists took over a vacant office block in central Dublin to provide temporary emergency accommodation and raise awareness of homelessness. 

Hansard released a new single, High Hope, earlier this summer and played a solo concert as part of the recent Trinity Summer Series just this month. 

Looking back at his career in an interview with the Irish Times in 2023, Hansard said “I love this life, and I get to play to people all over the world who are interested in hearing what I have to say, people who actually pay me to do it”.

“That’s a huge privilege. I’m not a pop star, so I’m not restricted by tunes needing to be 3½ minutes. There’s nobody in my corner telling me to shorten an album, to make it longer or to wear my hair this way, that way or the other.

“I get to be who I am, and that privilege is not lost on me.”

Tributes

Former President Michael D Higgins was among the first to release a statement paying tribute to Hansard, describing him as “a wonderful musician and performer, a troubadour whose gift for storytelling brought so much joy to audiences across the world”. 

Dave Fanning called him “one our best ever songwriters”. Arts and culture minister Patrick O’Donovan said his impact would “last generations in Irish music”.

Liam Ó Maonlaí, lead singer of the Hothouse Flowers, described Hansard as someone who “never forgot anyone from the world he came from”, saying he devoted his time to helping and encouraging countless musicians throughout his career.

“His heart was so full of love,” Ó Maonlaí added.

The Frames’ Colm Mac Con Iomaire remembered Hansard as “a troubadour from a different time”.

Mac Con Iomaire told RTÉ Radio’s Drivetime that he first met Hansard while busking on Dublin’s Grafton Street as a teenager, describing the singer as “a brother from another mother”.

He said the pair had recently reunited for Frames gigs and had been discussing future performances together.

“It’s just a very hollow feeling today,” Mac Con Iomaire said.

Bono paid tribute in a long statement this afternoon calling Hansard “the shining star of the Christmas Eve busk”.

Bruce Springsteen also paid tribute, describing Hansard as “nothing but a great musician, a good friend and a generous and gracious man”.

“Always positive, smiling and ready to sing,” Springsteen added.