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Glen Hansard at a music workshop in Uherske Hradiste, Summer film school, July 27, 2005.
Glen Hansard (born Dublin, Ireland, 21 April 1970) is the vocalist and guitarist for Irish rock group The Frames. Hansard 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 television programme Other Voices: Songs from a Room, which showcased Irish music talent on RTÉ. On April 21, 2006 he released his first solo album, The Swell Season, in collaboration with Czech singer and multiinstrumentalist Markéta Irglová, and two other friends Marja Tuhkanen from Finland on violin and Bertrand Galen from France on cello. Glen also spent part of 2006 in front of the cameras for a music-infused Irish film "Once" in which Hansard plays a Dublin busker, and Irglová shines as the immigrant street vendor who strikes up a friendship with him and helps him fully unleash his musical passion. The film had its American Premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in 2007 and received the World Cinema Audience Award at the closing ceremony. Glen features on the Oxfam, charity album, The Cake Sale. Hansard has recorded a few cover songs, both alone and with band member Colm Mac Con Iomaire, for the Today FM discs titled "Even Better Than the Real Thing." Songs that he has recorded include Britney Spears' "Everytime" and a Justin Timberlake track.
Once, a film Starring Glen and Markéta Irglová won World Cinema Audience Award at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival in the category Dramatic.
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