The 56-year-old singer and actor, known for The Commitments, the band The Frames, and the film Once, was involved in a single-vehicle motorcycle accident and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Glen Hansard, the Irish musician and actor who won an Academy Award and was known for the film The Commitments and his work with the band The Frames, has died following a motorcycle accident in the Dublin area of Ireland. He was 56 years old.
The accident occurred near Strawberry Beds in Lucan shortly before 4:30 a.m. on Wednesday. It was a single-vehicle incident involving a motorcycle, on Lower Road between Tinkers Hill and Rugged Lane.
In an initial statement, Irish police disclosed that the motorcycle rider, a man believed to be in his 50s, received first aid at the scene but died shortly afterwards. Officers closed off the area to allow forensic experts to examine the cause of the accident, and traffic diversions were put in place in the surrounding area.
Hansard's management team subsequently issued a statement confirming the news of his death: "With broken hearts, we announce the passing of Glen Hansard in the early hours of this morning. We remain in a state of shock at what has happened, and we ask that the privacy of Glen's family, colleagues, and friends be respected during this difficult time."
Glen Hansard was married and had one son. He divided his time between a home in Kildare, Ireland, and Helsinki, Finland, the hometown of his wife Markéta Irglová — a poet — who is his wife and a poet.
In terms of his acting career, Hansard played the role of Outspan Foster in the 1991 film The Commitments, directed by Alan Parker and adapted from the first novel by Roddy Doyle. Alongside his acting work, he continued to build his musical career with The Frames, before working as part of the duo The Swell Season and later releasing solo material.
He achieved one of his greatest successes in 2008, when "Falling Slowly" — co-written with Markéta Irglová, his partner in The Swell Season duo, and featured in the film Once — won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
Hansard was born and raised in Ballymun, in the north of Dublin, and began playing music with The Frames during his teenage years in the 1980s, eventually becoming one of Ireland's most celebrated contemporary artists.
In an interview with The Irish Times earlier this year, he spoke about his hometown, saying that while Ballymun is often viewed negatively, it is in fact a community where people strongly support one another, and he recalled that although his mother did not have much money, she had a very strong sense of community.
Police have appealed for witnesses, including road users who had dashboard cameras and were travelling through the Strawberry Beds area at the relevant time, to come forward with any footage or information that may be of assistance to investigators as they continue to establish the cause of the accident.
