Academy Award-winning Irish singer-songwriter Glen Hansard died in a motorcycle crash in Dublin early Wednesday, his management said. He was 56.
“With broken hearts, we announce the passing of Glen Hansard in the early hours of this morning,” ATC Management said in a statement to CBS News.
Irish police said a man in his 50s died in a single vehicle motorcycle crash in Lucan on the outskirts of the Irish capital before 4:30 a.m. on Wednesday. The man, who they did not name, was treated at the scene but was pronounced dead a short time later. CBS News partner BBC News reported that police are asking witnesses from the crash to come forward.
Hansard was born in Dublin in 1970, according to the BBC, and busked in the city. He made his acting debut in the 1991 film “The Commitments,” playing Outspan Foster, a young working-class member of a Dublin soul band.
Hansard again combined music and acting in the 2007 indie musical film “Once,” co-writing the movie’s songs with Markéta Irglová. The pair also starred in the film. Hansard and Irglová won the 2008 Oscar for best original song for the number “Falling Slowly.” A stage adaptation of the musical ran on Broadway from 2012 to 2015, winning eight Tony Awards, and has played around the world.
Off-screen, Hansard was long-serving frontman for rock band The Frames and performed with Irglová as the rock duo The Swell Season. Hansard has also released five solo albums, including “Didn’t He Ramble,” which was nominated for a Grammy for best folk album in 2016.
Hansard has made frequent appearances on CBS Saturday Mornings’ “Saturday Sessions” segment. In 2015, he showcased “Didn’t He Ramble,” and in 2018 and 2024 he played songs from other solo albums. In August 2025, he and Irglová performed songs from “Forward,” their first album as The Swell Season in 16 years.
At the funeral of The Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan in 2023, Hansard performed The Pogues’ song “Fairytale Of New York” with Irish singer Lisa O’Neill, which prompted dancing in the aisles of the church.
For years, Hansard led the Christmas Eve charity busk outside Dublin’s Gaiety Theatre, where members of the public gathered to see famous Irish musicians perform in aid of the Dublin Simon Community. The organization said Wednesday it was “devastated” to hear of Hansard’s death, according to the BBC.
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“While known to many as a genius songwriter and storyteller, for us, he was threefold that, in his generosity, a true advocate for our work and a giant in the fight against homelessness,” the Dublin Simon Community said in a statement.
Hansard is survived by his wife and a 3-year-old son. In a 2023 interview with the BBC, Hansard said becoming a father had “completely, in the greatest way possible, upturned everything that I know.”
Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin said he was “deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Glen Hansard.”
“A talented musician and actor who made a significant contribution to Ireland’s cultural landscape over many years,” Martin posted on X, sending his “sincere sympathies to his family, friends and fans.”
