Glen Hansard has died at the age 56.
The singer-songwriter passed away in a crash in Lucan, Dublin in the early hours of this morning.
Raised in Ballymun, Hansard might never have become a professional musician had his headmaster not recognised his talent and suggested he start busking with his guitar.
Hansard quit school and spent years busking, but his big break came from acting.
Although he had little initial interest in the craft, Hansard attended the audition for The Commitments on the advice of a friend, spoke a few lines and quickly got a call back.
Glen Hansard. Picture by: Alamy.com.
The comedy drama was a sensation, winning a Bafta and propelling him to stardom.
However, it was always music that was his true creative passion and he became a member of The Frames in the late 1980s.
Hugely successful, not just in Ireland, but all over Europe, Hansard found himself playing to adoring crowds.
“When we released Fake, we got tons of radioplay and found ourselves playing to people in Kylie Minogue t-shirts while our faithful audience were five rows back with their arms folded,” he recalled.
“It was one of those tunes I wrote in three minutes and wasn’t really into, but everyone I played it to went wild.”
Glen Hansard. Picture by: Marissa Carter/ZUMA Press Wire/Alamy.com.
In 2020, Hansard married his wife Maire Saaritsa and the couple became parents to a boy, Christy, in 2022.
Reflecting on life as a parent, Hansard said that it meant a “complete perspective shift” but that he was “absolutely loving it”.
The family split their time between Ireland and Ms Saaritsa’s native Finland.
