Glen Hansard “gathered people together, lifted those who had fallen on hard days, and through his way showed that kindness is its own kind of song.”

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Irish singer-songwriter and actor Glen Hansard passed away on July 29, 2026 at the age of 56 following a motorcycle accident.

Hansard began his musical career busking on the streets of Dublin. In 1990 he co-founded the Irish rock band The Frames, a group which went on to have four albums reach the top ten of the Irish Music Charts. Later he was a member of The Swell Season, a folk-rock duo with Markéta Irglová, and beginning in 2012 he released solo albums that drew acclaim and fans.

Cuts from the first of those solo effort, Rhythm and Repose, were included in a NPR Tiny Desk Concert from the period.

His second solo album, Didn’t He Ramble (2015), was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Folk Album. Grace Beneath the Pines is the opening track, heard here in a live version.

While primarily known as a musician, Hansard also acted. He is best known for starring in the 2007 film Once, which “earned awards including the Academy Award for Best Original Song for Falling Slowly, with Markéta Irglová,” the co-writer of the song and the co-founder of The Swell Season duo.

Building on the fame of Once, CBS Sunday Morning had a feature on Hansard and his busking days which originally ran on March 17, 2013.

Hansard performed When Your Mind’s Made Up at NPR’s All Songs Considered’s Sweet Sixteen party in 2016.

One of my LinkedIn connections, Wendy O’Sullivan, the Superintendent of Gateway Communities, wrote a lovely remembrance that captures how many feel about Hansard, his work, and his impact on others.

“There are some people who seem to belong not only to their own family or country, but to all of us. Glen Hansard was one of those rare souls.

I never met him, I only know a few of his songs, I never had the chance to see him play live. Yet his passing has settled heavy on my heart as though I’ve lost a dear old friend.

The Irish have a way of saying that some people leave a light behind them.

Following all the outpouring of condolences, I have come to understand this week that Glen’s light wasn’t only in his music. It was in the way he gathered people together, lifted those who had fallen on hard days, and through his way showed that kindness is its own kind of song.

In remembering Glen, it feels as if a great collective remembering of something we’ve been forgetting is happening. That our purpose isn’t simply to make a living, but to make a life of compassion, courage, creativity, art, generosity, kindness and joy.

Glen, thank you for leaving the world a little kinder and reminding us to raise our hopeful voices. We have a choice!”

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The Parting Glass is an especially poignant song given Glen’s passing.

“So fill to me the parting glass
Good night and joy be to you all”

Hansard said that Bob Dylan was at the center of his family’s folk music trinity when he was a child. So it was fitting that his funeral at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin ended with a rousing rendition of the Dylan classic Forever Young.

As one commentator noted, the Irish sure know how to do funerals. More of them should end with standing ovations.

Rest in peace, Glen Hansard.

More to come . . .

DJB