Glen Hansard | |
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 Hansard in 2015 | |
| Born | Glen James Hansard (1970-04-21)21 April 1970 (age 54) Ballymun, Dublin, Ireland |
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| Spouse | |
| Partner | Markéta Irglová (2006–2009) |
| Children | 1 |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | |
| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1990–present |
| Labels |
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| Formerly of | |
| Website | www |
Musical artist | |
Glen James Hansard (born 21 April 1970)[1] is an Irish singer-songwriter and musician. Since 1990, he has been the frontman of the Irish rock bandThe Frames, with whom he has released six studio albums, four of which have charted in the top ten of theIrish Album Charts. In the 2000s, he was one half offolk rock duoThe Swell Season before releasing his debut solo album,Rhythm and Repose, in 2012. His 2015 second albumDidn't He Ramble was nominated for theGrammy Award for Best Folk Album.
Primarily a musician, he has also acted and written music for film; he appeared in theBAFTA-winning filmThe Commitments (1991) and starred in the Irish music dramaOnce (2007) which earned him a number of major awards, including theAcademy Award for Best Original Song for "Falling Slowly" with co-writer and co-starMarkéta Irglová. The film was later adapted into amusical theatre production.
Hansard quit school at age 13 to beginbusking on local Dublin streets.[2] He formed his own bandThe 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 1991Alan Parker filmThe Commitments. He has often stated that he regretted taking the role because he felt it distracted him from his music career.[citation needed] In 2003, he presented the television programmeOther Voices: Songs from a Room, which showcased Irish music talent onRTÉ.[3]
On 22 April 2006, he released his first album without The Frames,The Swell Season, onOvercoat Recordings in collaboration with Czech singer and multi-instrumentalistMarkéta Irglová,Marja Tuhkanen fromFinland on violin and viola, andBertrand Galen from France on cello. Hansard also spent part of 2006 in front of the cameras for the music-infused Irish filmOnce, in which Hansard plays a Dublin busker, and Irglová an immigrant street vendor. The film had its United States premiere at theSundance Film Festival in 2007 and received the Festival's World Cinema Audience Award.
Hansard had recorded a version ofBob Dylan's "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" for the filmI'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".[4]
Aside from his projects with The Frames and Irglová, Hansard also took part as a member of the band on the 2006Oxfam charity album,The Cake Sale. Hansard has recorded severalcover songs, both alone and with band memberColm Mac Con Iomaire, for theToday FM discsEven Better than the Real Thing. Songs that he has recorded includeJustin Timberlake's "Cry Me a River" onEven Better than the Real Thing Vol. 1 andBritney Spears' "Everytime" onVol. 2.[citation needed]
He voiced a role on an episode ("In the Name of the Grandfather") onThe Simpsons as an Irish busker.[5] A new album of original songs recorded asThe Swell Season withMarkéta Irglová and entitledStrict Joy was released on 27 October 2009 on theANTI- record label.[6]
In the summer of 2011, he joinedEddie Vedder on his American solo tour in support of Vedder's solo album,Ukulele Songs. He played a solo concert at the opening of theMetropolitan Museum of Art's Guitar Heroes exhibit in New York City in May 2011[7] and onCape Cod at the Cape Cinema on 17 June.[8]
In September 2011, he played atPearl Jam's 20th Anniversary Festival PJ20 at the Alpine Valley Theatre outside ofEast Troy, Wisconsin. Hansard plays several guitars, including a very recognisable battered Takamine NP15 acoustic guitar (even sporting a large hole), which he calls "The Horse".[9]
In a November 2011 interview[10] inThe Huffington Post with Irglova, it was revealed that Hansard was preparing a solo album and that there was a very possible third release from The Swell Season. This solo album was later revealed to be titledRhythm and Repose.[11]
American Songwriter included Hansard's "Love Don't Leave Me Waiting" on its The Muse July Sampler.[12] Another song of his featured in a film soundtrack isThis Gift, which appears inThe Odd Life of Timothy Green.[13]
Hansard sang the song "Take the Heartland" on thesoundtrack for the 2012 filmThe Hunger Games. Another song he wrote, "Come Away to the Water", is featured on the soundtrack, but is covered byMaroon 5 andRozzi Crane.[citation needed] Hansard can be found singing "Come Away to the Water" on the deluxe edition of his first solo albumRhythm and Repose. He guest-starred in an episode of the TV series,Parenthood, playing himself. In the episode, "Trouble in Candyland", he performed "High Hope", a single from his solo debut albumRhythm and Repose.[14] In 2015, Hansard andLisa Hannigan recorded a song, "On Love", for the soundtrack for the 2014 filmKahlil Gibran's The Prophet.[15] Hansard sang Coyote at theJoni Mitchell 75th birthday concertJoni 75: A Birthday Celebration in Los Angeles in December 2018.
In 2022, he toured withEddie Vedder.[16] In October he recorded "Take Heart", featuring Marketa Irglova,Bono and Ukrainian refugees in response to theRussian Invasion of Ukraine.[17]
In December 2023, Hansard performed a rendition of "Fairytale of New York" alongsideLisa O'Neill backed byThe Pogues atShane MacGowan's funeral service held in St Mary's of the Rosary Catholic Church,Nenagh,Co Tipperary, Ireland. They sang the roles of the 1987 original hit recording by MacGowan and the lateKirsty MacColl.[18][19]
Hansard has remarked about his musical influences: "In my house, when I was a kid, there was the holy trinity, which wasLeonard Cohen,Van Morrison, andBob Dylan with Bob sitting centre."[20] Hansard andThe Frames toured as the support act for Bob Dylan in Australia and New Zealand in August 2007 and Hansard often performs Van Morrison's songs in concert. Two such songs include "Into the Mystic", and "And the Healing Has Begun" which were included on the collector's edition of the soundtrack for the filmOnce.
Hansard is a devotee ofKrishna and performed for the 80th birthday ofSwami Prabhupada in London, staying at a manor donated to the Hare Krishna movement byThe Beatles'George Harrison, who was a Hare Krishna devotee.[21] In July 2013, he sang with Bruce Springsteen at Nowlan Park,Kilkenny, Ireland. In July 2015, he performed "Raglan Road" withEd Sheeran inCroke Park, Dublin.[citation needed]
During the promotional tour forOnce, Hansard and Irglová began dating.[22] 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".[23] The relationship ended after two years.[24]
In 2008, Hansard took a four-week filmmaking workshop at theNew York Film Academy.[25]
Hansard used to live at 21Bleecker Street inNoho, New York City.[26]
In 2016, Hansard was a member of the Home Sweet Home Group, a coalition of activists and homeless people.[27] The group broke intoApollo House in Dublin andillegally occupied it.[28] They eventually had to vacate the premises due to aHigh Court ruling.[29]
His partner, poet Maire Saaritsa, gave birth to their first child, a boy named Christy, in October 2022. Hansard and Saaritsa planned to marry at the end of 2022.[30] The couple reside in both Ireland and Helsinki.[31]
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Work | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 80th Academy Awards | Best Original Song | "Falling Slowly" fromOnce | Won | WithMarkéta Irglová |
| 4th Irish Film & Television Awards | Best Music in Film | Once | Nominated | ||
| Satellite Awards | Satellite Awards | "If You Want Me" fromOnce | Nominated | ||
| 2008 | 50th Grammy Awards | Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media | Once | Nominated | |
| Best Song Written for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media | "Falling Slowly" fromOnce | Nominated | |||
| 2013 | 55th Grammy Awards | Best Musical Theater Album | Once (musical) | Won | |
| 2016 | 58th Grammy Awards | Best Folk Album | Didn't He Ramble | Nominated | |
| 2021 | 12th Hollywood Music in Media Awards | Original Song – Onscreen Performance | "Whenever I Fall" fromCyrano | Nominated | WithSam Amidon & Scott Folan |
| Original Song – Feature Film | "My Father's Daughter" fromFlag Day | Nominated | WithEddie Vedder | ||
| 2022 | Guild of Music Supervisors Awards | Best Song Written and/or Recorded for Television | Nominated |
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | Sales | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IRE [32] | AUT [33] | BEL [34] | GER [35] | NLD [36] | SWI [37] | UK [38] | US [39] | |||
| Rhythm and Repose |
| 3 | 21 | 111 | 71 | 37 | 40 | 133 | 21 |
|
| Didn't He Ramble |
| 3 | 24 | 42 | 47 | 14 | 31 | 144 | 92 | |
| Between Two Shores |
| 20 | 10 | 18 | 16 | 30 | 19 | — | — | |
| This Wild Willing |
| 23 | 47 | 45 | 27 | 30 | 27 | — | — | |
| All That Was East Is West of Me Now |
| — | 46 | 168 | 52 | 59 | — | — | — | |
