In Memoriam: Glen Hansard (April 21, 1970 – July 29, 2026)
This morning we woke to the sad news that Irish singer-songwriter Glen Hansard died in the early morning hours in a motorcycle crash in Dublin. The Frames frontman, who was 56, moved between the bombastic roar of rock and gentle murmurs of folk, winning audiences both through his acting and his musical artistry.
ATC management announced his death and released a statement: “With broken hearts we announce the passing of Glen Hansard who passed away, in the early hours of this morning, following a road traffic accident in Dublin. Glen’s family is deeply shocked and heartbroken by this tragic loss and respectfully requests privacy at this extremely difficult time. The family is grateful for the support they have received and wishes to thank the emergency services who attended the scene.”
Growing up in a working-class family in Dublin, Hansard weathered his father’s heavy drinking and sometimes violent behavior by listening to what he once called the “holy trinity: Leonard Cohen, Van Morrison, and Bob Dylan.” When his uncle was sent to prison, he left behind a guitar, which Hansard soon picked up and fell in love with. By the time he was 13, he’d dropped out of school and was busking on the streets of Dublin. It was there that he developed his musical style and his intuitive sense for the audience.
In 1990, Hansard formed the Frames and they released seven albums between 1991 and 2006. Although the Frames found little initial success in the US, they garnered a wide following in Ireland, standing out for their swaggering blend of rock and folk. The band eventually carved out a niche for themselves in America, recording on small indie labels. In 1991, he gained a new audience when he played the guitarist Outspan Foster in ‘The Commitments,’ a film about the ragged ups and downs of a working-class Irish rock band of
misfit musicians.
Hansard’s appearance in the 2007 film ‘Once’ raised his profile again. He and the Czech-born singer Markéta Irglová filled the screen in the roles of two struggling musicians, and the plaintive “Falling Slowly” won the 2008 Academy Award for Best Original Song.
Building on this success, Hansard and Irglová formed the folk rock band The Swell Season, releasing ‘Strict Joy’ in 2009. The duo parted ways to pursue solo careers with Hansard releasing five solo albums between 2012 and 2023. His album ‘Didn’t He Ramble’ (2015) was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Folk Album in 2016. Although his solo work featured his more introspective stylings, it sometimes included rollicking and raucous anthems with other musicians.
In 2026 he released a pair of albums, ‘Don+t Settle,’ (Vols 1 and 2) which feature recorded live recordings.
In addition to his film, television, and recording work, Hansard engaged in various forms of social activism, bringing the message of radical love found in his music to individuals marginalized by society. He was a member of Home Sweet Home, a coalition of activists and homeless people, and on Christmas Eve he led the annual charity busk to aid the Simon Community, an organization devoted to ending homelessness, in Dublin.
Glen Hansard once told an interviewer that while his songs might be described as love songs, their themes move more broadly: “It’s also the relationship between me and my country, me and my friends, me and myself, me and my god. It’s not always about me and my girl. That’s just the language I’ve gotten used to using.”
Glen Hansard’s emotionally resonant words and music will continue to reverberate in our hearts. As we mourn him, we also recall his expansive love for the world: “I choose to believe that there is good in people and that everything is a lesson. Our place on Earth is to go deeper, to somehow get wiser. To have spirit.”
May we do likewise.
