Glen Hansard, Oscar-winning Irish singer-songwriter, dies in Dublin motorbike crash at 56

The accident

Glen Hansard, the 56-year-old Oscar-winning singer-songwriter and frontman of The Frames, died in a motorbike crash in Dublin in the early hours of Wednesday 29 July. His body was found at around 4:30am on Lower Road at Strawberry Beds near Lucan after a member of the public travelling the road alerted gardaí. He had spent the earlier part of the night at a trad session in The Wren's Nest pub, which later posted on Instagram that it was "always a privilege" to host his "incredible talent". Emergency services attended but he was pronounced dead a short time later.

Investigation

Gardaí are treating the crash as a fatal road traffic incident and are preparing a file for the coroner's court. A post-mortem is scheduled in the short term, with an inquest to be arranged later. Officers from the National Roads Policing Bureau based at Dublin Castle are leading the investigation, which will include gathering CCTV, interviewing witnesses, and a forensic collision examination. An initial inspection of the motorbike is understood to have found very little damage. The road was sealed off and logged as a crime scene, standard procedure for any fatal crash in Ireland.

Tributes from fans and musicians

By Thursday afternoon, queues stretched out the door of Dublin's Mansion House as members of the public waited to sign a book of condolence. Many described Hansard as a "musician's musician" who never lost touch with his roots. Gary Carroll, a five-string banjo player from Malahide, said Hansard "never forgot where he came from; he was with the crowd, the crowd followed him, he could mix with the crowd, he loved to go and play in sessions, and he'd bring the best out in people." Others recalled his annual busking events for the homeless and his habit of stopping to talk to anyone on the street.

Tributes also poured in from across the music world. Bruce Springsteen, U2, Bob Geldof, Ed Sheeran, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Billie Eilish were among those who expressed their sorrow. Fellow Dubliner Damien Dempsey called him the "Ballymun Bard" and wrote on Instagram:

When you ripped into a song you'd rip the roof off the venue and rip your heart out of your chest and hand it to us. A monumental power and a monumental loss.

From Ballymun to the world stage

Hansard grew up in Ballymun, one of Dublin's most deprived areas in the 1980s. He left school at 13 and later credited a Bob Dylan cassette, given to him by his girlfriend's brother, with changing his life. "I listened to Bob Dylan and everything, like my whole world just went into the opposite - flipped," he once told RTÉ. He formed The Frames in 1990 and signed his first record deal that same year, also landing a role as guitarist Outspan Foster in Alan Parker's film The Commitments. He went on to win an Academy Award for the song "Falling Slowly" from the film Once, and remained a prolific solo artist and collaborator.

Family and statement

Hansard is survived by his partner, Finnish poet Maire Saaritsa, and their son Christy, whose birth he announced in 2022. His management, ATC, issued a statement on Wednesday:

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 statement added that the family was grateful for the support received and thanked the emergency services who attended the scene, noting that no further comment would be made while a Garda investigation is active.