Glen Hansard, the Oscar-winning songwriter and lead singer of The Frames, has died in a motorcycle crash in Dublin.
The 56-year-old was killed in a single vehicle collision near the Strawberry Beds overnight.
Gardaí said they were called to the incident on the R109 near Rugged Lane shortly before 4:30am and that the man was treated at the scene but pronounced dead a short time later.
The road is closed from the R121 (Tinkers Hill) to Rugger Lane as Garda forensic collision investigators examine the scene, and gardaí are appealing to anyone who witnessed the incident to come forward.
Ballymun native Hansard left school at 13 to busk in Dublin and appeared as a guitarist in The Commitments before forming The Frames in 1990.
The band released six studio albums between 1991 and 2015 and built a reputation as one of Ireland’s best live acts.
Hansard starred in John Carney‘s 2007 film Once as a busker who falls in love with a Czech flower seller played by Markéta Irglová.
The pair, who performed together as the Swell Season, wrote the song ‘Falling Slowly’, which would go on to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
The film became an international success, making over $23m at the global box office on a budget of $150,000, and it would later be turned into a Tony-winning Broadway musical.
He would go on to launch a solo career and release four albums, and he also sang with the likes of Bono, Bruce Springsteen and Eddie Vedder.
He was married to Finnish poet Maire Saaritsa with whom he had a son, and the couple split their time between Dublin and Helsinki.
Hansard had a net worth of $5m, according to Celebrity Net Worth, and he owned two Irish-registered companies worth more than €1m combined.
Hansard’s recording and royalties vehicle, Plateau Records Ltd, had net assets of €1.03m at the end of 2024, the last year for which accounts are available.
The company made a profit of €250,332 after losing €261,143 in 2023.
It reported tangible assets of €352,646 between freeholds and motor vehicles as well as cash stocks of €682,493, plus €10,666 owed by its debtors. Current liabilities totalled €28,617.
Hansard was paid €184,720 by the company in 2024, up from €166,955 the previous year.
Plain Records Ltd, another company Hansard wholly owned, had net assets of €7,035 after making a loss of €125,654 in 2024 following a profit of €164,701 the previous year.
The Dublin-based music recording and performance company listed tangible assets of €45,694, cash and equivalents of 72,189 and €162,784 owed by debtors.
It owed €273,632 to its creditors, although most of that was owed to Plateau Records.
Hansard’s remuneration totalled €84,636, up from €79,151 in 2023. He was the company’s only employee.
Photo: Irish singer Glen Hansard performs live on stage during a concert at the Columbiahalle on May 8, 2026 in Berlin, Germany. (Pic: Frank Hoensch/Redferns)
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