Glen Hansard, Once Film Star and Oscar-Winning Songwriter, Dies at 56

Glen Hansard, the Irish singer-songwriter, actor and Academy Award winner whose heartfelt folk-rock compositions and performance in the 2007 film Once inspired the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical of the same name, has died. According to the BBC, Hansard died on July 29 following a single-vehicle motorcycle crash in his hometown of Dublin. He was 56.

Hansard first emerged as the frontman of the Irish rock band The Frames, which he formed in 1990 after leaving school at 13 to pursue music as a busker on the streets of Dublin. He gained international attention a year later playing guitarist Outspan Foster in Alan Parker's BAFTA-winning musical film The Commitments. Over the next decade and a half, Hansard helped establish The Frames as one of Ireland's defining rock bands, releasing seven studio albums before his career reached new heights with Once.

Written and directed by John Carney, Once starred Hansard opposite his Swell Season bandmate Markéta Irglová as two struggling musicians who find love through song on the streets of Dublin. Hansard and Irglová wrote and performed the film's original music, including the intimate duet “Falling Slowly,” which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 80th Oscars. The film became an international phenomenon and later inspired the Tony Award-winning Broadway adaptation, which opened in 2012 and won eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Hansard was awarded the Drama Desk Award for Best Lyrics.

Hansard continued to perform both as a solo artist and with Swell Season following the success of Once. His debut solo album, Rhythm and Repose, was released in 2012, followed by Didn't He Ramble, which earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best Folk Album. He later released Between Two Shores, This Wild Willing and All That Was East Is West of Me Now. In 2025, he reunited with Irglová for the Swell Season album Forward.

Hansard remained active on screen, contributing music to Todd Haynes' I'm Not There and Sean Penn's Flag Day. He appeared in the 2021 film adaptation of Cyrano as a guard, voiced an Irish busker on The Simpsons and appeared in episodes of Parenthood and The Last Man on Earth.

ATC Management, which represented Hansard, said in 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.”

Hansard is survived by his partner, poet Maire Saaritsa, and their three-year-old son.