Der am 21. April 1970 in Dublin geborene irische Sänger, Gitarrist, Komponist und Schauspieler Glen Hansard (Bild) ist am 29. Juli 2026 bei einem Motorradunfall ebenda gestorben. Hansard begann seine musikalische Karriere als Strassenmusiker in Dublin. Er war dann Sänger und Gitarrist der irischen Rockband The Frames und war Hauptdarsteller im Film «Once». Dessen Regisseur John Carney war bei The Frames bis 1993 Bassist. Hansard spielte auch die Figur «Outspan Foster» im Musikfilm «The Commitments». Zusammen mit Markéta Irglová nahm er 2006 unter dem Namen The Swell Season ein gleichnamiges Album auf. Gemeinsam schrieben beide 2006 auch die Filmmusik zu «Once». Für den Titel «Falling Slowly» aus dem Soundtrack erhielten sie 2008 den Oscar in der Kategorie Bester Song.
Bild: Glen Hansard, 2016 – Foto: Sven-Sebastian Sajak, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Sven0705 – Lizenz: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en – Datei: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WP2016_GlenHansard_FFM.jpg
Oscar-winning musician Glen Hansard dies in Dublin crash
Glen Hansard will be remembered as one of Dublin and Ireland’s most beloved native sons, who went from busking on the streets of his hometown to success with his band The Frames, to Academy Award glory with the song Falling Slowly, from the film Once, and on to a successful career as a solo artist.
He was one of Ireland’s most acclaimed and influential musicians, who built an international career spanning more than three decades across music, film and theatre.
https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2026/0729/1585555-glen-hansard-death/
Tributes paid to Glen Hansard: ‘A troubadour whose gift for storytelling brought so much joy’
Catherine Connolly, Micheál Martin, Rachel Zegler and more pay tribute following death of Oscar-winning musician Glen Hansard
Tributes have poured in following the death of Irish musician and actor Glen Hansard, who has died aged 56.
Hansard, who won an Oscar in 2008 for the song Falling Slowly from the film Once, which he wrote with Markéta Irglová, died in a motorcycle crash in Dublin on Wednesday.
President Catherine Connolly said Hansard would be remembered as “one of Ireland’s great singer-songwriters”. “Glen and his band The Frames stood out as one of the leaders of the thriving wave of Irish bands who emerged in the 1990s and were the source of so much inspiration to a generation of young people and musicians,” Connolly said in a statement. (…) Connolly said Hansard would also be remembered for his generosity, including encouragement to young musicians and his work to highlight causes such as homelessness. “Glen was one of the vital driving influences of the Irish music world, bringing people together in the sharing of live music. He will be sorely missed by all who knew him or experienced his work,” Connolly said.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said he was “deeply saddened” by the death of Hansard who was “a talented musician and actor who made a significant contribution to Ireland’s cultural landscape over many years”.
Hansard, the father of a three-year-old boy, has also been hailed by charities for his work in raising money for the homeless
In 2010, he started an annual Christmas Eve busk in Dublin City Centre, which attracted high-profile musicians including Bono, Sinéad O’Connor and Shane McGowan.
The Simon Community, a charity in the UK and Ireland which helps homeless people, said it was «devastated» by his death.
«Glen’s talents will indeed be his legacy but so too will his commitment to social justice. We will be forever indebted to him for the difference he made in the lives of the people we serve.»
Niall Glynnand and Hayley Halpin
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3ekn9d37qvo
Frontman of chart-topping band the Frames had huge success as the star of 2007 romantic drama Once
Bruce Springsteen recalled meeting Hansard in Ireland “many years ago.”
“He was always nothing but a great musician, a good friend and a generous and gracious man,” he wrote on social media. “Always positive, smiling and ready to sing.”
Bono wrote a lengthy tribute, remembering Hansard as an “angelic presence” and “a smiling rascal if you needed him to be”. “For me, he will always be everywhere I see a coin spinning into an open guitar case,” he wrote.
Warren Ellis called him “a good man and loyal friend” while band the Mountain Goats posted, “His love of music was palpable, infectious, radiant.”
Hansard had genuinely lived Once’s story of a busker down on his luck: he had started out performing on the streets of Dublin, having dropped out of school early.
He formed the Frames in his late teens, named for his hobby of fixing up bicycle frames which populated his back garden. His mother secured a bank loan for their earliest recordings: “She went to the bank manager and asked could she get the house done up,” Hansard later said.
Ben Beaumont-Thomas
Glen Hansard, Frontman of Irish Band the Frames, Dies at 56
Mr. Hansard, who started out as a busker on the streets of Dublin, formed the Frames in 1990, and the band went on to have multiple hit albums in Ireland. He achieved international fame after starring in “Once,” the tender tale of an Irish street musician and the Czech pianist he falls for. He and his co-star, Markéta Irglová, won an Academy Award for “Falling Slowly,” which is featured in the film.
“You can’t take your eyes off them,” the critic A.O. Scott wrote of Mr. Hansard and Ms. Irglová in a video review for The New York Times, adding that the film was “almost perfect.”
Alex Marshall and Isabella Kwai
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/29/arts/glen-hansard-dead.html
Glen Hansard’s Greatest Subject Was Life Itself
Remembering the street-busking balladeer turned folk-rock star, whose artistic journey never stopped
Glen Hansard stepped away from the mic, stepped to the lip of the stage, and shouted the words “I got a home on high.” Coming out of Ireland’s busking tradition, Hansard had been singing this way his entire life. So when he was faced with some seeming sound issues mid-way through a spellbinding Carnegie Hall performance in March 2019, where he was appearing at a tribute to his hero, Van Morrison, Hansard ripped the cord from his guitar, moved closer to the crowd, and reduced the historic 2,800-person theater to yet another cramped Dublin pub or street corner.
Jonathan Bernstein
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/glen-hansard-tribute-irish-songwriter-1235597862
Muere el músico Glen Hansard, protagonista de ‘Once’ y ganador del Oscar, tras un accidente de moto
El cantante irlandés, líder de la banda The Frames, ha fallecido este miércoles en Dublín a los 56 años.
Fernando Neira
Glen Hansard, morto a 56 anni in un incidente di moto il cantautore premio Oscar
Aveva vinto la statuetta per la canzone “Falling slowly”, tratta dal film “Once”.
Andrea Silenzi
Le chanteur et musicien irlandais Glen Hansard meurt à 56 ans d’un accident de moto
L’artiste, connu en Irlande pour avoir cofondé le groupe de rock The Frames en 1990, est mort, a-t-on appris ce mercredi 29 juillet. Il laisse derrière lui de nombreuses consécrations artistiques, et une reconnaissance internationale.
Irischer Musiker und Oscarpreisträger Glen Hansard ist tot
Gerade erst war von Glen Hansard eine musikalische Werkschau erschienen. Der 1970 in Dublin Geborene hatte 2025 im Funkhaus Berlin einige seiner besten Songs live neu eingespielt und zusammen mit einem neuen Studioalbum unter dem Titel „Don’t Settle – Transmissions East & West“ vor einigen Wochen veröffentlicht. Eines der Stücke trägt den Titel „What Happens When The Heart Just Stops“.
Jan Wiele
Eine der Ikonen der irischen Musik
Einen seiner größten Auftritte hatte der irische Sänger Glen Hansard im Winter 2023, als sein Landsmann Shane MacGowan zu Grabe getragen wurde. Bei der Trauerfeier sang Hansard im Duett mit Lisa O‘Neill den Pogues-Weihnachtsklassiker „Fairytale of New York“ und rührte das Publikum in der Kirche in Nenagh zu Tränen.
Wie MacGowan und die ebenfalls 2023 gestorbene Sinead O‘Connor gehörte Glen Hansard zu den Ikonen der irischen Musik, seit er 1991 in Alan Parkers Film „The Commitments“ den Gitarristen der gleichnamigen (fiktiven) Dubliner Soul-Band spielte, die nach einem kurzen Höhenflug an den übergroßen Egos ihrer Mitglieder zugrunde geht. Für die Rolle des Saxofonisten war damals sogar Van Morrison im Gespräch, doch dem Grantler aus Belfast gefiel das Drehbuch (nach dem Roman von Roddy Doyle) nicht.
Thorsten Keller
Audios / Videos:
Glen Hansard – Falling Slowly
Glen Hansard, Marketa Irglova – Falling Slowly (Official Video)
Testing Glen Hansard’s Music Knowledge | Track Star*, 2026, 10:59 min
Sleepless Nights · Eddie Vedder · Glen Hansard, 2018
The Swell Season on World Cafe, 2025
Glen Hansard Full Interview (HQ), 2012
Mehr:
https://www.facebook.com/GlenHansardMusic
https://www.instagram.com/glenhansard
https://bsky.app/profile/glenhansard.bsky.social
https://www.imdb.com/de/name/nm0360598/
https://www.discogs.com/de/artist/26586-Glen-Hansard
https://web.archive.org/web/20120116035507/http://www.theswellseason.com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glen_Hansard
(*) https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glen_Hansard
#GlenHansard #CHcultura @CHculturaCH ∆cultura cultura+
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