Oscar-winning musician and actor Glen Hansard has died at the age of 56.
Hansard, the Irish singer-songwriter who starred in the 2007 film Once, died on Wednesday in a single-vehicle motorbike crash in Lucan, west of his home city of Dublin, Ireland.
“With broken hearts we announce the passing of Glen Hansard who passed away, in the early hours of this morning, following a road traffic accident in Dublin,” Hansard’s team at ATC Management said in a statement to BBC News.
“Glen’s family is deeply shocked and heartbroken by this tragic loss and respectfully requests privacy at this extremely difficult time,” they continued. “The family is grateful for the support they have received and wishes to thank the emergency services who attended the scene.”
According to the outlet, the accident was reported to emergency services around 4:30am local time and police are appealing for witnesses.
Hansard was primarily a musician and released five solo albums over the course of his career, including Didn’t He Ramble, which was nominated for the Best Folk Album Grammy Award in 2016.
He was also the frontman and founding member of the Irish rock band The Frames, with whom he released eight albums, and was one-half of the folk-rock duo The Swell Season.
On screen, Hansard played Outspan Foster in the 1991 musical comedy-drama The Commitments and starred alongside Markéta Irglová in John Carney’s 2007 romantic musical Once, which followed two struggling musicians in Dublin.
For the film’s standout duet, Falling Slowly, Hansard and Irglová won the Oscar for Best Original Song.
Hansard welcomed a son with his partner, poet Maire Saaritsa, in October 2022.
