Glen Hansard, the Irish singer-songwriter who won an Academy Award for the song "Falling Slowly," died Wednesday in a single-vehicle motorcycle crash on the outskirts of Dublin, he was 56 and leaves behind a wife and young son.
Emergency services responded to the crash in Lucan, on the western edge of Dublin, shortly before 4:30 a.m. local time. Hansard was treated at the scene but pronounced dead a short time later, Irish police confirmed. Officers described the deceased as a man in his 50s involved in a single-vehicle collision. No other vehicles or parties were reported involved.
His management team at ATC Management released a brief statement on behalf of the family. They called themselves "deeply shocked and heartbroken" and asked for privacy.
Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin mourned the loss publicly, calling Hansard "a talented musician and actor who made a significant contribution to Ireland's cultural landscape over many years." No further details about the circumstances of the crash, speed, road conditions, or contributing factors, have been disclosed.
Hansard's path to international recognition started about as far from Hollywood as a musician can get. He began his career busking on the streets of Dublin, playing for passersby before forming the rock band The Frames in 1990. The group released six studio albums between 1991 and 2006, building a devoted following in Ireland and becoming one of the country's most respected acts.
His acting career began early. In 1991, he appeared as a band member in director Alan Parker's musical comedy drama "The Commitments," a film that became a cult favorite on both sides of the Atlantic.
But the project that defined Hansard's legacy was "Once," a low-budget 2007 indie film shot on camcorders. He starred alongside Czech musician Markéta Irglová as two Dublin street musicians falling into an unlikely romance. Their duet, "Falling Slowly," won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2008. The film's shoestring production made the win all the more remarkable, and the Broadway adaptation went on to capture eight Tony Awards in 2012.
Hansard and Irglová also performed together as the folk duo The Swell Season, extending the creative partnership beyond the screen.
Hansard continued recording as a solo artist after "Once." His 2015 solo album "Didn't He Ramble" earned a Grammy nomination for Best Folk Album in 2016, a recognition that confirmed his standing well beyond the Irish music scene. He also took on a role as a guard in the 2021 film "Cyrano," starring Peter Dinklage.
Through it all, Hansard remained rooted in Dublin. He was a married father of one, his son is just three years old.
Irish police have not indicated whether an investigation into the crash remains active, and no cause or contributing factors have been released. The management statement offered no additional detail beyond confirming the death and requesting space for the family.
A man who started playing for coins on a Dublin sidewalk earned the highest honors his craft can offer. That his three-year-old will grow up knowing his father only through those songs and films is the hardest fact in this story.
