According to the BBC, Hansard died on July 29 following a single-vehicle motorcycle crash in his hometown of Dublin. He gained international attention a year later playing guitarist Outspan Foster in Alan Parker's BAFTA-winning musical film The Commitments. The film became an international phenomenon and later inspired the Tony Award-winning Broadway adaptation, which opened in 2012 and won eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Hansard continued to perform both as a solo artist and with Swell Season following the success of Once. In 2025, he reunited with Irglová for the Swell Season album Forward.