Oscar-winning Irish musician Glen Hansard is dead after a pre-dawn motorbike crash on the western edge of Dublin, the capital of Ireland.
Hansard, 56, shared the 2008 Academy Award for Best Original Song with Markéta Irglová for “Falling Slowly,” the duet at the heart of the shoestring Dublin romance Once.
He had fronted the rock band The Frames since 1990, having started out busking as a teenager in Ballymun.
ATC Management confirmed the death and said Hansard’s family was “deeply shocked and heartbroken.”
The company thanked emergency crews and asked for privacy while a police investigation runs its course.
Police were called to Lower Road at the Strawberry Beds in Lucan in the minutes before 4:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
“The motorcyclist, a man in his 50s, was treated at the scene,” the force said. He did not survive.
Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin led the tributes, calling Hansard “a talented musician and actor who made a significant contribution to Ireland’s cultural landscape over many years” in a post on X.
Ireland’s culture minister, Patrick O’Donovan, added: “Few artists made as big an impact on modern Irish storytelling … Hansard consistently poured passion and vulnerability into every note. His impact will last generations in Irish music, even as his life has ended far too soon.”
Ryan Tubridy, former host of Irish chat show The Late Late Show, also paid tribute, describing Hansard as “one of the greats.”
“It’s with the heaviest of hearts I post a few words about Glen Hansard who has died. I’ve been a fan, an admirer and thanks to multiple chats on TV and radio, an interviewer of this extraordinarily talented singer and storyteller. Apart from his talent as an artist, he also cared.
“He cared about the homeless and he cared about Ireland. The Oscar, the achievements and the humanity were all part of a life well lived. Condolences to Glen’s family and his legion of fans. We have lost one of the greats. May he rest in peace,” he wrote.
West Side Story actress Rachel Zegler shared a series of photos of the pair together on social media. She kept her tribute brief, writing: “oh i will love you forever. rest now, my friend.”
Hansard is survived by his wife, Finnish poet Maire Saaritsa, and their son, Christy.
