Glen Hansard, the Oscar-winning songwriter, has died in a motorcycle accident in Dublin

Irish Academy Award-winning singer Glen Hansard died in a motorcycle accident in Dublin early Wednesday, his management said. He was 56 years old.

“It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Glen Hansard this morning,” ATC officials said in a statement to CBS News.

Irish police say a man in his 50s died in a single-vehicle motorcycle crash in Lucan on the outskirts of the Irish capital just before 4:30 a.m. Wednesday. The man, who did not want to be identified, was treated at the scene but pronounced dead a short time later. Our CBS News partner reported that police are asking witnesses to the crash to come forward.

Hansard was born in Dublin in 1970, according to the BBC, and moved from the city. He made his acting debut in the 1991 film “The Commitments,” playing Outspan Foster, a young member of a Dublin gang.

Hansard also combined music and acting in the 2007 indie musical film “Once,” co-writing the movie’s songs with Markéta Irglová. The two also acted in the film. Hansard and Irglová won the 2008 Oscar for best original song for the number “Falling Slowly.” The stage adaptation of the musical on Broadway from 2012 to 2015, won eight Tony Awards, and has performed around the world.

Off screen, Hansard was the frontman of the rock band The Frames and performed with Irglová as the rock band The Swell Season. Hansard has also released five solo albums, including “Didn’t He Ramble,” which was nominated for a Grammy for best folk album in 2016.

Hansard has appeared several times on CBS Saturday Mornings’ “Saturday Sessions” segment. In 2015, he showed “Didn’t He Ramble,” and in 2018 and in 2024 he played songs from other solo albums. In August 2025, he and Irglová sing songs from “Forward,” The Swell Season is their first album in 16 years.

At the funeral of Pogues leader Shane MacGowan in 2023, Hansard performed The Pogues’ “Fairytale Of New York” with Irish singer Lisa O’Neill, which caused dancing in the aisles.

For many years, Hansard has led a charity bus on Christmas Eve outside Dublin’s Gaiety Theatre, where members of the public gather to see famous Irish musicians perform in aid of the Dublin Simon Community. The organization said on Wednesday it was “saddened” to hear of Hansard’s death, according to the BBC.

“While known to many as a brilliant songwriter and storyteller, to us, he was triple that, through his generosity, a true advocate for our cause and a hero in the fight against homelessness,” said Dublin community member Simon in a statement.

Hansard is survived by his wife and three-year-old son. In an interview with the BBC in 2023, Hansard said that becoming a father “changed everything I know, in a very big way.”

Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin said he was “deeply saddened by the passing of Glen Hansard.”

“A talented singer and actor who has played an important role in the Irish cultural scene for many years,” Martin wrote in X, sending his “heartfelt condolences to his family, friends and fans.”