Irish singer-songwriter Glen Hansard has died in a motorcycle crash in Strawberry Beds, a few kilometres west of Dublin, Ireland. He was 56.

Glen Hansard performing at Palace Theatre St. Paul in 2018. Photo © Andy Witchger/Wikimedia commons

Born in Ballymun, Dublin in 1970, Hansard left school at the age of 13 to begin busking. In 1990, he founded rock group The Frames. Named for Hansard’s hobby for fixing up old bicycles for his friends, the frames of which littered his backyard, the group released six studio albums and opened for Bob Dylan during his 2007 Australian and New Zealand tour.

In 1991, Hansard made his acting debut as guitarist Outspan Foster in cult musical-comedy film The Commitments, spotlighting a ragtag group of working-class Irish youngsters brought together to form a soul band.

His next screen appearance was in the 2007 film Once, where he starred as an Irish busker who falls in love with a young Czech musician, played by Markéta Irglová. Directed by The Frames ex-bassist John Carney and produced on a shoestring budget, Once went on to to earn the Academy Award for Best Original Song for Falling Slowly, co-written and performed...