Glen Hansard, seen right here performing in Washington, D.C. in 2016, led the Irish band The Frames and gained an Oscar for the tune “Falling Slowly” from the movie As soon as.
AJ Wilhelm/For NPR
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AJ Wilhelm/For NPR
Glen Hansard, the Irish singer who gained an Oscar for the musical film As soon as and led the bands The Frames and The Swell Season, died on Wednesday. He was 56 years outdated. Hansard’s administration shared an announcement with NPR, and confirmed that he died following a bike crash in Dublin.
“With damaged hearts we announce the passing of Glen Hansard within the early hours of this morning,” the assertion reads. “We’re nonetheless coping with the shock of all of it, so we kindly ask that the privateness of Glen’s household, colleagues and buddies is revered at this troublesome time.”
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Hansard dropped out of faculty at 13 to concentrate on music, performing often as a busker in Eire. Not lengthy after forming his band The Frames in 1990, he landed an element within the film The Commitments — a couple of tempestuous Irish band that could not overcome conflicts amongst its members.
Hansard’s personal profession proved extra steady and long-lasting: The Frames, named for Hansard’s affinity for bicycles, grew to become a success in Eire, although it struggled for years to seek out the identical degree of fame within the U.S. The band married alt-rock bombast — stormy guitars, weeping strings — with the intimacy of a seasoned busker. Hansard’s personal showmanship, honed by means of years of avenue performances, made him a pure frontman.
After brief stints on a number of main U.S. labels, The Frames nurtured a grassroots following in America, as 2001’s independently launched For the Birds attracted a few of Hansard’s finest early opinions.
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Hansard’s greatest profession transfer got here when he was forged because the unnamed male lead within the 2007 movie As soon as. Hansard and the Czech-born singer Markéta Irglová starred as a pair of struggling musicians in Dublin, and the pair gained the 2008 Academy Award for finest unique tune for his or her romantic duet, “Falling Slowly.” The tune rapidly grew to become a regular and the movie’s soundtrack bought lots of of 1000’s of copies; later, after As soon as spawned a success Broadway musical of the identical title, Hansard gained a Grammy Award for finest musical theater album.
Hansard and Irglová grew to become romantically concerned throughout As soon as‘s run of success, and continued to collaborate over time. Within the wake of As soon as‘s success, they fashioned a band collectively known as The Swell Season, which contained a number of members of The Frames. The group launched a post-As soon as album, 2009’s Strict Pleasure, earlier than Hansard and Irglová launched into solo careers; the pair reunited 16 years later to place out one other album, Ahead, in 2025.
Hansard additionally launched a string of solo albums which regularly showcased a extra subdued and reflective facet of the artist; 2015’s Did not He Ramble was nominated for a Grammy for finest folks album. Although the music typically veered from the bombastic ardour of Hansard’s work with The Frames and The Swell Season, it additionally discovered him rising extra musically expansive, as he labored with giant bands that usually included supporting gamers he’d labored with for years.
Earlier this yr, Hansard launched a pair of albums known as Do not Settle. The albums, recorded over two nights in 2025, options stay performances of songs that span Hansard’s profession.
