Glen Hansard

Glen Hansard (born 21 April 1970)[1] is an Irish songwriter, actor, vocalist and guitarist for the Irish group The Frames, and one half of folk rock duo The Swell Season. He is known for his acting, having appeared in the BAFTA-winning film The Commitments, as well as starring in the film Once, which earned him a number of major awards, including the Academy Award for Best Original Song for “Falling Slowly”, with co-writer and co-star Markéta Irglová.

Hansard quit school at age 13 to begin busking on local Dublin streets.[2] He formed his own band The Frames in 1990, and the group have been gigging regularly in Ireland since. Hansard came to international attention as guitar player Outspan Foster in the 1991 Alan Parker film The Commitments. He has often stated that he regretted taking the role because he felt it distracted him from his music career. In 2003, he presented the television programme Other Voices: Songs from a Room, which showcased Irish music talent on RTÉ.[3]

On 22 April 2006, he released his first album without The Frames, The Swell Season, on Overcoat Recordings in collaboration with Czech singer and multi-instrumentalist Markéta Irglová, Marja Tuhkanen from Finland on violin and viola, and Bertrand Galen from France on cello. Hansard also spent part of 2006 in front of the cameras for the music-infused Irish film Once, in which Hansard plays a Dublin busker, and Irglová an immigrant street vendor. The film had its United States premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in 2007 and received the Festival’s World Cinema Audience Award. During the promotional tour, he and Irglová began dating.[4] Said Hansard about his relationship with Irglova: “I had been falling in love with her for a long time, but I kept telling myself she’s just a kid”.[5]

Hansard had recorded a version of Bob Dylan’s “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” for the film I’m Not There in 2007. In 2009, Hansard said that he and Irglova were no longer romantically linked, and that they are now “good friends”.[6]