Billie Eilish, brother FINNEAS and mother Maggie Baird have paid tribute to the late Glen Hansard.
The Frames frontman and Oscar-winning actor died in a motorcycle accident aged 56 yesterday (July 29). Bruce Springsteen, Bono and Nick Cave are some of the few who have paid tribute to the Dublin singer-songwriter.
Now, Eilish and her family have shared their memories of Hansard in honour of the late musician.
Sharing a picture arm-in-arm with Hansard, FINNEAS wrote: “Glen Hansard. North Star songwriter, most wonderful person. The first song I ever got on a stage to perform was “Falling Slowly” when I was 11. His songs made me want to write songs and they also made me cry. When our family met him in Dublin in 2019, he greeted us like old friends even though we were just his fans. Today I am a heartbroken fan. Hope he knew how much he meant to so many, this is how much he meant to me.”
Meanwhile, Baird shared more photos of Hansard, writing: “Sometimes you get to meet your heroes and they are even more amazing than your dreams.”
“We are Broken hearted today,” Baird added. “Glen Hansard was a force in all of our family’s lives and when we got to first meet him at electric picnic in 2019 It was such a gift.”
Baird went on to say that she was “devastated for his family” and “for all of us who were so changed by him”, recalling memories of Hansard’s performance in the film Once. “When we first saw the movie Once it affected us also profoundly,” she said.
“I know Finneas and Billie would not be who they are without his music. Finneas first performed publicly singing Falling Slowly, Billie sang all the songs from the movie, we went to see him talk and perform at The Grammy Museum in 2013 and were blown away. I made my film inspired by that beautiful movie.”
She added that Hansard “was a thrilling human to be in the presence of,” concluding her post with: “I hope you have a little inkling of what he meant to people. I know it’s a very hard thing to feel and taken I doubt that he really knew, but he was such a gift I’m so so sad. I’m so grateful for what he brought to the world.”
Billie Eilish shared her mother’s post on her Instagram story, adding: “devastated… wouldn’t be who I am today without glen”.
Glen Hansard began his career as a busker on the streets of Dublin, while his 2016 solo album ‘Didn’t He Ramble’, earned him a Grammy nomination for Best Folk Album.
Along with starring in Once, Hansard composed the music for the film. He and co-star Markéta Irglová’s song “Falling Slowly” won the 2008 Academy Award for Best Original Song.
Hansard is survived by his wife, poet Maire Saaritsa, and his son Christy, who was born in 2022.