Glen Hansard

Glen Hansard (born 21 April 1970) is an Irish singer-songwriter and actor. He is vocalist and guitarist for Irish group The Frames and one half of folk-rock duo The Swell Season.

Hansard is said to have quit school at age 13 to begin busking on local Dublin streets. He first came to public attention as guitar player ‘Outspan Foster’ in the Alan Parker film The Commitments, a role he subsequently regretted, believing it distracted from his music career. In 2003 he presented the first series of Other Voices: Songs from a Room, which showcased Irish music talent on RTÉ. The album The Swell Season, in collaboration with a Czech singer and multi-instrumentalist Markéta Irglová, was released on in 2006 (the album also featured Marja Tuhkanen and Bertrand Galen).

Hansard starred in the movie ‘Once’ alongside Markéta Irglová which won a prestigious Sundance Audience Award in 2007, as well as the 2008 Academy Award for Best Original Song (for “Falling Slowly”), beating three songs from the Disney musical “Enchanted” and one song from “August Rush” (both were heavy contenders). Its Irish release took place on 23rd March 2007 and appeared in cinemas further afield later in the year.

Hansard’s album, Rhythm and Repose, was released in June 2012. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.