Ireland loses one of its most beloved voices: Frames frontman and Oscar-winning hero Glen Hansard Ouncedied Wednesday in Dublin following a motorcycle accident, aged 56. He had just published the second volume of his album Don+t Settle – Transmissions East & West.
Irish singer and songwriter Glen Hansard, revealed to the world by the drama Ounce (2007), died in a motorcycle accident at the age of 56. His death was confirmed by ATC Management, which represented the artist.
Hansard, who also fronted the rock band The Frames, died on Wednesday after an accident in Dublin. The Garda – the Irish police – and emergency services were called shortly before 4:30 a.m. after reports of a single-vehicle collision.
The musician won the Oscar for best original song for “Falling Slowly”, written and performed in Ounce alongside his on-screen partner and former companion, Markéta Irglová.
Hansard remained active until the end: last month he published the second volume of his album Don+t Settle – Transmissions East & West. On April 30, he opened his European tour on the Olympia stage, and WECB France still broadcast several of his live sessions in June.
Born in 1970 in Ballymun, a district in the north of Dublin, he made his debut as a teenager playing in the streets of the Irish capital. He founded The Frames in 1990 and was first noticed in The Commitments by Alan Parker, where he plays guitarist Outspan Foster.
But it is Ouncein 2007, which will remain one of his most beloved and enduring works. John Carney's film followed Hansard and Irglová as two penniless Dublin musicians who slowly fall in love. It grossed $23 million worldwide.
In 2022, he announced the birth of his son, Christy, with his partner, the Finnish poet Maire Saaritsa. In tribute, Mike Scott of the Waterboys wrote: “I have just learned of the death of Glen Hansard. Have a nice trip, Buddy. You made your dreams come true. I am so sad that he leaves behind his wife and 3 year old child. »
Hansard was admired by artists like Joni Mitchell and Bruce Springsteen – with whom he shared a memorable cover of “Drive All Night” on stage at Nowlan Park in Kilkenny in 2013. He also performed “Fairytale of New York” alongside Lisa O'Neill at the funeral of Shane MacGowan in December 2023.
