We’ve lost a national treasure. Glen Hansard, the Oscar-winning singer-songwriter and one of Dublin’s most beloved native sons, has died at the age of 56 following a motorcycle accident in the city this morning. Gardaí confirmed a single-vehicle collision on the R109 Lower Road near Strawberry Beds in Lucan, shortly before 4.30am, with emergency services arriving to find Hansard fatally injured. His management company, ATC Management, released a statement saying his family is deeply shocked and heartbroken, and has asked for privacy at this extremely difficult time.

Born in Ballymun in 1970, Hansard’s story is one of the great Irish rags-to-riches tales, beginning as a teenage busker on the streets of Dublin before co-founding The Frames in 1990. As the band’s frontman, guitarist, and chief songwriter, he helped shape one of Ireland’s most enduring and emotionally raw rock acts, building a devoted following through albums like Fitzcarraldo, For the Birds, and The Cost. But it was film that carried Hansard’s name far beyond Ireland’s shores. He first appeared on screen in Alan Parker’s THE COMMITMENTS in 1991, playing guitarist Outspan Foster, a role that introduced him to audiences well outside the music world. It was ONCE, however, the 2007 Dublin-set musical drama in which he starred alongside Markéta Irglová, that cemented his legacy. The film’s soundtrack became a global phenomenon, and its centerpiece, “Falling Slowly,” earned Hansard and Irglová the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2008, a moment that remains one of the most cherished in Irish cultural history.

Beyond music and film, Hansard’s fingerprints are all over Irish culture. He became the original presenter of RTÉ’s celebrated music series Other Voices in 2002, helping launch what would become one of the country’s most important platforms for new artists. Just this month, he returned to Dublin for a homecoming performance at Trinity College, a show that critics called picture-perfect, staged a mere stone’s throw from where he once busked on Grafton Street. That circularity, from street corner to stadium and back again, defined a career built on authenticity and an unshakeable connection to his home city.

Tonight, Ireland mourns not just a musician or an actor, but a voice that gave shape to something deeply national: the ache, humor, and resilience of ordinary Dublin life turned into art the whole world could feel. Glen Hansard leaves behind a monumental legacy on screen and stage, and a body of work that will keep finding new listeners for generations to come.