Glen Hansard, the Irish singer-songwriter who won an Academy Award for the film "Once," was killed early Wednesday in a single-vehicle motorcycle crash on the outskirts of Dublin, leaving behind a wife and a three-year-old son.
Irish police said a man in his 50s crashed before 4:30 a.m. in Lucan, a suburb west of the Irish capital. First responders treated him at the scene, but he was pronounced dead a short time later. Police did not publicly name the victim and have asked any witnesses to come forward.
Hansard's management company, ATC Management, confirmed his identity to CBS News in a statement that morning:
"With broken hearts, we announce the passing of Glen Hansard in the early hours of this morning."
His family, through management, told Irish broadcaster RTÉ they were "deeply shocked and heartbroken," Fox News reported. No cause or contributing factors for the crash have been disclosed. Police have not said whether an investigation is ongoing.
Hansard was born in Dublin in 1970. He busked on the city's streets as a young musician and made his acting debut in the 1991 film "The Commitments," playing guitarist Outspan Foster. He went on to front the rock band The Frames for decades.
His breakthrough came with the 2007 indie musical "Once," a low-budget film he co-wrote and starred in alongside Czech singer-songwriter Markéta Irglová. The two played a Dublin busker and a Czech immigrant whose lives intersect through music. On February 24, 2008, Hansard and Irglová won the Oscar for best original song for "Falling Slowly" at the 80th Academy Awards.
The film's stage adaptation ran on Broadway from 2012 to 2015 and won eight Tony Awards. It has since played around the world.
Hansard and Irglová also performed together as the rock duo The Swell Season. In August 2025, the pair appeared on CBS Saturday Mornings' "Saturday Sessions" segment to showcase songs from "Forward," their first album together in 16 years.
As a solo artist, Hansard released five albums. "Didn't He Ramble" earned a Grammy nomination for best folk album in 2016. He appeared on "Saturday Sessions" repeatedly, in 2015, 2018, and 2024, and performed at Madison Square Garden in New York City on September 3, 2024.
Beyond the stage and studio, Hansard was known in Dublin for leading an annual Christmas Eve charity busk outside the Gaiety Theatre for years. The event raised money and awareness for the Dublin Simon Community, a homeless services organization.
That group said Wednesday it was "devastated" by the news. In a statement, the organization praised Hansard not just as a songwriter but as a committed advocate:
"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."
In 2023, Hansard performed "Fairytale of New York" with Irish singer Lisa O'Neill at the funeral of Shane MacGowan, frontman of The Pogues. Waterboys frontman Mike Scott also paid tribute Wednesday. "Just heard that Glen Hansard has died. Travel on well, Buddy. You made your dreams come true," Scott wrote. "I'm so sorry that he leaves his wife and 3-year-old child."
Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin posted his condolences on X, writing that he was "deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Glen Hansard." Martin called him "a talented musician and actor who made a significant contribution to Ireland's cultural landscape over many years" and sent "sincere sympathies to his family, friends and fans."
Hansard is survived by his partner, Finnish poet Maire Saaritsa, and their three-year-old son, Christy. In a 2023 BBC interview, Hansard spoke about fatherhood, saying it had "completely, in the greatest way possible, upturned everything that I know."
He was 56. The crash remains unexplained. And a little boy will grow up knowing his father only through the songs he left behind.
