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Glen Hansard, Oscar-Winning ‘Once’ Star, Dies at 56 in Dublin Motorcycle Crash

The Irish singer-songwriter and frontman of The Frames was killed in a single-vehicle accident on Lower Road in Lucan. Police are seeking witnesses

Glen Hansard, the Irish singer-songwriter who won an Academy Award for “Falling Slowly” from the 2007 film “Once,” died Wednesday in a motorcycle crash in his hometown of Dublin. He was 56.
The accident, a single-vehicle crash, occurred on Lower Road in Lucan, west of Dublin, according to the BBC. Emergency services were called around 4:30 a.m. Irish police are now seeking witnesses.

Hansard’s management company, ATC Management, confirmed the death in a statement: “With broken hearts we announce the passing of Glen Hansard who passed away, in the early hours of this morning, following a road traffic accident in Dublin. Glen’s family is deeply shocked and heartbroken by this tragic loss and respectfully requests privacy at this extremely difficult time.”

Born and raised in Dublin, Hansard left school at 13 to busk on the city’s streets. He formed the rock band The Frames in 1990 and gained wider attention the following year as guitarist Outspan Foster in the film “The Commitments.” He released seven albums with The Frames between 1991 and 2006.

His breakthrough came in 2007 with “Once,” the low-budget musical drama directed by John Carney in which Hansard starred alongside Czech singer Markéta Irglová. The pair, who performed as the folk duo Swell Season, composed all the film’s original music. “Falling Slowly,” their breakout duet, won the Oscar for best original song at the 80th Academy Awards. The film was later adapted for Broadway, where it won eight Tony Awards including best musical.

As a solo artist, Hansard toured with Eddie Vedder in 2011 and released six studio albums, the most recent in 2023. He and Irglová released a new Swell Season album, “Forward,” in 2025. In April, he played a sold-out show at New York’s Bowery Ballroom.
Hansard is survived by his partner, poet Maire Saaritsa, and their three-year-old son.

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