The Oscar Winner Who Played for Dublin's Homeless Every Christmas Eve Died in a Motorbike Crash at 56

Glen Hansard died in a motorcycle accident in Lucan, west of Dublin, at around 4:30 in the morning on Wednesday. He was 56. Police arrived immediately, as did medical assistance - he died shortly afterwards of his injuries. He leaves behind a three-year-old son, Christy.

To many, the name will mean nothing. To those who know it, it means one very specific thing: the 2008 Oscar for best original song, for the film „Once”. A small Irish film shot on almost no money, in which street music turns into something that won over both Hollywood and audiences. Hansard also fronted the band The Frames and was one half of The Swell Season.

„It is with deep sadness that we announce Glen Hansard died this morning following a road accident in Dublin. The family is deeply shaken and devastated by this tragic loss,” his management said, asking for privacy.

Irish president Catherine Connolly said Hansard was a key figure in Irish music and that he brought people together through live performance. Former president Michael D. Higgins described him as a musician who placed great importance on raising society's problems.

That last part was not a platitude. Every Christmas Eve, Hansard played on Dublin's main pedestrian street for the homeless, with friends including Bono. Not once, for a photograph - every year. A man with an Oscar at home, returning to the same pavement he started on.

There is something in that worth holding onto. A musician who reached the top and stayed tied to the place that made him is a rarity in an industry built on getting as far as possible from where you began. The Balkans know the opposite scene by heart too: success, and then silence towards everyone left behind.

The Oscar will be remembered by the biographies. The Christmas Eves on the street are remembered only by those who were there.