Irish singer Glen Hansard dies in motorcycle accident at age 56

Glen Hansard played at his local pub, just hours later the musician died in an accident. Ireland mourns a defining voice.

Published: August 3, 2026 — 4:01 PM

Photo: Artur Widak/picture alliance

From Dublin Ralf Sotscheck

The condolence list for Glen Hansard is long. The Irish musician died last Wednesday at the age of 56 in a motorcycle accident and will be buried today, Tuesday.

Barack Obama, the former US president, Bruce Springsteen, US actress Rachel Zegler and her colleague Ben Stiller, pop stars Billie Eilish, Bono, Bob Geldof and Hozier, Irish President Catherine Connolly and Prime Minister Micheál Martin, as well as many other celebrities, have expressed their condolences.

Musician Patrick Freyne said: "He was, in a way, our national bard. He embodied the red thread from kitchen sessions to concert halls because he felt equally at home in both environments."

Early Life and Career

Hansard grew up in Ballymun in north Dublin, a high-rise housing estate with a bad reputation. His father James was a carpenter and a gifted fiddler who had toured Ireland in the 1940s, but he also drank heavily and could be violent. Hansard later received a guitar from an uncle who was in prison and taught himself to play.

"In my childhood, we had the holy trinity at home," he said. "Leonard Cohen, Van Morrison, and Bob Dylan."

With his band The Frames, Hansard toured Australia and New Zealand as the opening act for Dylan in 2007.

Not Only a Musician, But Also an Actor

He was primarily a musician, but also acted – including in the 1991 comedy "The Commitments" and the 2021 romantic drama "Cyrano." The song "Falling Slowly," which Hansard co-wrote with Markéta Irglová for the film "Once," in which both starred, won the Oscar for Best Original Song in 2007.

Hansard and Irglová met in 2001 at a music festival organized by their parents in the Czech Republic, when she was 13 and he was 31. Six years later, they began a romantic relationship that ended after two years. In 2022, Hansard married Finnish poet Maire Saaritsa, and they had a son that same year.

Activism and Homeless Advocacy

In addition to his musical career, Hansard was involved in helping the homeless. Sixteen years ago, he initiated an annual street music event on Christmas Eve, in which Bono, Sinéad O'Connor, Imelda May, and Shane MacGowan, among others, participated. Over the years, two million euros were raised for homeless organizations.

Shortly before Christmas 2016, Hansard and 100 other people occupied Apollo House, a vacant office building in central Dublin, to draw attention to the homelessness crisis and provide shelter for people on the streets.

The Final Hours

On Tuesday, Hansard, as so often, took part in a session at Wren's Nest; the video of his last song was clicked millions of times. He left the pub at midnight, and at half past four in the morning, he had an accident on a country road less than three kilometers away; his motorcycle remained almost undamaged. Where he was in the meantime is unknown.

A pub owner in the area said he would not comment because he had been asked by the family to respect their privacy.

Hansard's funeral today, Tuesday, at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin will be streamed live on the internet.