Global Pulse

分类： entertainment

  • The Recording Academy CEO responds to BTS decision not to submit to Grammys

    The Recording Academy CEO responds to BTS decision not to submit to Grammys

    NEW YORK — Global K-pop phenomenon BTS has sent shockwaves through the international music industry with its announcement that it will not submit any of its upcoming work, including its highly anticipated comeback album *ARIRANG*, for consideration at the 2027 Grammy Awards, a decision that comes amid heated debate over the Recording Academy’s newly introduced Best Asian Pop Music Performance category.

    All seven members of BTS — RM, Suga, j-hope, Jimin, V, Jung Kook, and Jin — made the joint announcement via identical posts shared to their individual Instagram accounts on Wednesday. In the statement, the group outlined its core reasoning for stepping away from the awards process, saying, “We hope our music can be heard and loved for what it is, rather than being divided by region or language.”

    The group’s choice comes just over one month after the Recording Academy confirmed five new award categories for future Grammy ceremonies, headlined by the new Best Asian Pop Music Performance honor. Per the academy’s official rulebook, the category is designed to recognize eligible releases spanning a wide range of East and Southeast Asian pop genres, including K-pop, J-pop, and C-pop, among others. But the creation of the separate category has drawn sharp criticism from many music fans, who argue it functions as a racialized barrier that boxes Asian artists out of competition in the awards’ major general-field categories.

    In a public response posted to the Grammys’ official Instagram account, Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. expressed disappointment over BTS’ decision while emphasizing he respects the group’s choice as creators. “I am saddened to hear that BTS has chosen not to participate in the Grammy Awards process this year, but as a music creator, I understand and respect their decision,” Mason wrote.

    Mason used the statement to push back against widespread criticism of the new category, clarifying its intended purpose and addressing misinformation that has circulated in public discourse. “I do want to clarify something that seems to be getting lost in the conversation. The Asian Pop category was created to celebrate the depth, diversity and extraordinary growth of pop artistry coming out of Asia,” he wrote. “More categories mean more artists’ work is recognized. It’s never to divide, but to expand who is recognized by our 15,000 Grammy voters.”

    The academy CEO also stressed that entering the new Asian pop genre category does not prevent artists from also submitting their work for consideration in the awards’ most high-profile general field categories, including Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Record of the Year. “Recognition in a genre category and recognition in the General Field are not mutually exclusive,” Mason said. “An artist can absolutely pursue both.”

    For BTS, the decision to step away from the Grammys comes after a history of multiple nominations but no wins for the group. Over the course of their career, BTS has earned five Grammy nominations: three nods in the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category, one nomination for Album of the Year for their collaborative contribution to Coldplay’s *Music of the Spheres*, and a nomination for Best Music Video for their track “Yet to Come.”

    The Grammys have long faced criticism for sidelining K-pop despite the genre’s massive global commercial and cultural influence. While a K-pop track took home a Grammy award for the first time earlier this year — when “Golden” from the Netflix animated film *KPop Demon Hunters* won Best Song for Visual Media — the genre still remains underrepresented in major categories at the awards show.

  • Wildfires force George Clooney’s family to evacuate their home in southern France

    Wildfires force George Clooney’s family to evacuate their home in southern France

    PARIS – A-list Hollywood actor George Clooney and his family have been compelled to abandon their countryside residence in southeastern France after an out-of-control wildfire encroached on the local area, his representative confirmed to reporters this Thursday.

    The Oscar-winning filmmaker, best known for headlining the blockbuster *Ocean’s Eleven* franchise and decades of acclaimed film and television roles, shared details of his family’s evacuation in a personal letter addressed to Didier Bremond, the mayor of Brignoles. Brignoles is a small regional town located roughly 55 miles northeast of the Mediterranean port city of Marseille. Publicist Guido Gotz verified the authenticity of the correspondence in an email response to the Associated Press.

    In the warm, community-focused message opening with “Dear Didier,” Clooney acknowledged that the outcome for his property remained uncertain as the blaze continued to spread. “At this point we have no idea whether our beautiful home makes it through this terrible moment,” the actor wrote. Despite the uncertainty facing his own assets, Clooney made clear that his first priorities were the safety of local residents and his commitment to the region he calls a second home.

    He outlined two core points he wanted to share with local leadership: “first we hope you and the people of our city are safe and second that Amal and I are committed to making sure that whatever happens to our village,” Clooney stated, referencing his human rights lawyer wife Amal Clooney. “We are part of this community and we’ll be part of making it whole.”

  • Glen Hansard: Meeting heroes and the tape that changed his life

    Glen Hansard: Meeting heroes and the tape that changed his life

    The global music community is reeling from sudden, devastating news this week: beloved Oscar-winning Irish singer-songwriter Glen Hansard has died at age 56 following a motorbike accident in his hometown of Dublin on Wednesday. Tributes have flooded in from across the world, from U2’s Bono to Bruce Springsteen, as fans, peers, and loved ones mourn the loss of a musician whose work touched millions and reshaped Ireland’s cultural legacy on the international stage.

    Born and raised in Ballymun, a working-class Dublin neighborhood grappling with mass unemployment, crime, and drug addiction in the 1980s, Hansard left formal schooling at just 13, already on a precarious path that risked being consumed by the systemic deprivation surrounding him. It was two seemingly small gifts that altered the entire trajectory of his life: a guitar left at his family home by an uncle who was imprisoned, and a Bob Dylan cassette tape gifted by his girlfriend’s brother. In a February 2025 interview with Irish public broadcaster RTÉ, Hansard recalled that the discovery of Dylan’s work flipped his world upside down. “I stayed in the bedroom, I played Bob Dylan songs every day, I learned my craft, I decided music was all I cared about. So that was a real turnaround for me, it was a life changer and I suddenly had my path,” he said. A supportive school headmaster further cemented that path, telling him: “I can’t guarantee you’ll be famous, but if you start now, then you’ll always be able to live from your guitar.”

    Hansard went on to form the iconic Irish rock band The Frames, signing his first record deal in 1990 – the same year he stumbled into a role that would launch his public profile. By chance, he accompanied a friend to an open audition for Alan Parker’s 1991 musical comedy *The Commitments*, a story about a working-class Dublin soul band. With his natural red hair, Dublin northside accent, and existing guitar skills, casting directors asked him to read for the role of guitarist Outspan Foster, a part he landed despite never intending to audition. The film became a surprise global hit and earned permanent cult status, and Hansard later clarified he cherished the experience, despite long-running rumors he disliked the production. “I loved it, I had an absolute ball. I just sort of felt it didn’t define me and that was my little bit of resistance,” he told the XS Noise podcast earlier in 2026.

    That accidental foray into film opened the door to another career-defining, Oscar-winning opportunity decades later. For the 2007 indie Irish romance *Once*, director John Carney originally cast noted Irish actor Cillian Murphy in the lead male role, planning to train the actor to sing. When the creative team opted instead to cast a skilled musician who could grow into the acting part, they turned to Hansard, who had already co-written original music for the film opposite Czech musician Markéta Irglová. The pair’s duet *Falling Slowly* went on to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2008, catapulting Hansard to global stardom and cementing his place as one of Ireland’s most celebrated creative exports.

    Throughout his decades-long career, Hansard counted many music legends among his close friends and mentors. A lifelong fan of Bob Dylan and Northern Irish icon Van Morrison, he recalled his first awkward meeting with Morrison at age 19 or 20, when he was invited to the star’s birthday party at a Guinness family estate. After an initial gruff reception, Morrison invited Hansard to play, and the pair spent an hour and a half jamming, trading songs back and forth long after Hansard ran out of his own material. In a 2023 interview with BBC Radio Ulster, Hansard spoke of the close-knit community of global music stars he got to know over his career, recalling sessions with Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder that drew unplanned appearances from Ringo Starr, Stevie Wonder, Iggy Pop, and Morrissey. He also shared a beloved family anecdote about his mother, a diehard Beatles fan who snuck into the band’s backstage dressing room at Dublin’s Adelphi Cinema in 1964, only to be kicked out just moments before meeting the group – a story she repeated proudly for the rest of her life.

    Beyond his iconic discography and film work, Hansard was deeply committed to philanthropy, particularly focused on addressing homelessness in Dublin. For 15 consecutive years, he organized an annual Christmas Eve busking event on Dublin’s Grafton Street to raise funds for homeless charity the Simon Community, persuading fellow Irish stars including Sinead O’Connor and U2 band members to join him. The tradition began after a moment of reflection in 2009: when Hansard turned down a last-minute request to join a group of carol singers raising funds for the organization while he was out Christmas shopping, he returned home realizing the true meaning of the holiday lay in giving back, not buying gifts. Pat Green of the Simon Community told BBC News NI on Thursday that Hansard’s annual busks have raised more than €2 million (£1.7 million) to support the organization’s services in Dublin, turning the event into a beloved local holiday tradition.

    Hansard was also a close, loyal friend to late Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan, and stepped in to organize all musical arrangements for MacGowan’s 2023 funeral in just 24 hours after the singer’s death. MacGowan’s widow Victoria Mary Clarke told Today FM on Wednesday that she only asked Hansard to help with a small portion of the service, but he insisted on handling all of the planning to take the stress off her. The event featured performances from an all-star lineup of Irish and international music talent including Nick Cave, Imelda May, and The Frames, with readings from Bono and Bob Geldof. “As people who watched it will testify, he did an incredible job, absolutely incredible, and in a short space – 24 hours – he pulled that together,” Clarke said.

    As the world processes Hansard’s sudden passing, the outpouring of grief underscores the profound impact he had on music, film, and his local Irish community – a legacy that stretches from a working-class bedroom in Ballymun to the Academy Awards stage, and will continue to resonate with audiences for generations to come.

  • Nolan’s ‘Odyssey’ boosts sales of mythology tales in UK

    Nolan’s ‘Odyssey’ boosts sales of mythology tales in UK

    When Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated big-screen adaptation of Homer’s *The Odyssey* hit theaters in mid-July, industry experts expected it to dominate global box offices—what no one predicted was the unprecedented ripple effect it would create across the UK’s publishing industry, reviving widespread public interest in ancient Greek and Roman mythology.

    The latest data from market research firm NielsenIQ tells a striking story: in the four weeks leading up to July 25, print sales of Homer’s original epic jumped 1,400% compared to the same period in 2025. It is not just the classic text that has flown off shelves, either. Emily Wilson’s widely praised 2017 translation of the millennia-old poem has seen an equally explosive surge, with Britain’s largest bookstore chain Waterstones reporting that sales of Wilson’s edition have risen more than 1,000% year-over-year, and growth continues to climb week over week alongside sales of every other available translation of the text.

    The boom has extended far beyond *The Odyssey* itself. NielsenIQ records show significant sales uplifts for a whole range of related mythology works, from Homer’s *The Iliad* to modern reimaginings such as Madeline Miller’s *Circe* and Margaret Atwood’s *The Penelopiad*. On Amazon UK’s bestseller list for history, Stephen Fry’s adaptation of *The Odyssey* currently holds the top spot, with Fry’s two other classics-focused books *Mythos* and *Troy* taking second and fifth place respectively. Even audiobook platforms are sharing in the success: Spotify reports that searches for *The Odyssey* translations have skyrocketed 310% in recent weeks.

    For academics working in the field of Classics, this unexpected cultural wave brings cautious optimism. Many hope the blockbuster’s mainstream popularity will translate to higher student enrolment in ancient studies programs at the university level. Richard Kendall, a Classics lecturer at the University of Exeter and this year’s first expert-in-residence at the UK’s The Classical Association, called the sales spike “fantastic,” noting that ancient myths have retained their pull on audiences for millennia. “These are ripping good yarns,” Kendall told AFP. “It’s wonderful that this has created so much popularity. People are reading more, but this is just this iteration… People will always return to these stories.”

    At University College London, where Nolan himself studied Homer as an undergraduate English student, department leaders are already preparing for a long-term boost. “The buzz around the film has been tremendous, and we’re hoping to see a bounce in student numbers in the next few years,” said Phiroze Vasunia, head of UCL’s Greek and Latin Department. He added that the surge in interest sparked by the film aligns with a broader, steady rise in public enthusiasm for Classics and ancient studies that has been building in recent years.

    Since its release, Nolan’s film has been a commercial juggernaut. The director’s first feature since his 2023 Oscar-winning *Oppenheimer*, it has topped the North American box office for two consecutive weeks and has already grossed more than $640 million globally, earning widespread praise from audiences for its sweeping take on Odysseus’ 10-year journey home from the Trojan War. Starring Matt Damon as the legendary hero, Anne Hathaway as his loyal wife Penelope, and Tom Holland as their son Telemachus, the adaptation brings one of Western literature’s oldest stories to life for a new generation of moviegoers.

    Yet for all its commercial success, the film has not escaped sharp criticism from leading voices in the classics world. Emily Wilson, whose award-winning translation Nolan has publicly praised, published a blistering takedown of Nolan’s screenplay this week that made headlines across the globe. In an essay for the *London Review of Books*, Wilson argued the adaptation “lacks psychological, emotional, political and ethical depth,” writing “I would be ashamed to have written any part of this” and adding that it strips out many of the core elements that make Homer’s original poem a masterpiece.

    Prominent British classicist and historian Mary Bead echoed Wilson’s critique, though she also welcomed the renewed public interest in Homer that the film has generated. Writing in *The Times*, Beard argued that the poem’s original “erotic puzzles, the teasing ironies, the intriguing questions about truth and falsehood” had been replaced in Nolan’s adaptation with “a rather ponderous Hollywood message about civilisational decline.”

    Regardless of the critical divide, one outcome is clear: *The Odyssey* has turned ancient mythology into one of the UK’s hottest literary trends of 2025, introducing thousands of new readers to stories that have shaped Western culture for nearly 3,000 years.

  • Tickets for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey cancelled by IMAX after reseller discovery

    Tickets for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey cancelled by IMAX after reseller discovery

    When Christopher Nolan’s latest blockbuster *The Odyssey* landed in cinemas, it sparked unprecedented demand for a very special screening experience that can only be found one place in the entire Southern Hemisphere: IMAX Melbourne, the only venue down under equipped to project the film on pristine 70mm IMAX film. That exclusive access has turned into a ticket frenzy, with fans traveling from as far as Europe just to secure a seat at the iconic venue, and has now led to a major crackdown on unauthorized ticket scalping that has left hundreds of resold tickets void.

    The saga began earlier this week, when a Reddit user sparked widespread joking and frustration by posting a screenshot of a massive Facebook resale listing, quipping that Melbourne IMAX had effectively “outsourced ticket sales to a fella on FB.” The listing revealed a staggering cache of almost 100 tickets for September screenings, including blocks of two, four, and six seats, and an eye-popping 88 seats reserved for the 1:50 pm showing on Monday, September 14 – nearly an entire auditorium held by resellers looking to flip tickets at marked-up prices.

    Unlike standard film releases, IMAX Melbourne classifies these 70mm *The Odyssey* screenings as special limited events, with no discount vouchers accepted for entry. Tickets are priced as high as $70 per seat, and the venue has already sold more than 88,000 tickets across the run, racking up over $3.95 million in gross box office revenue. Every single screening through September 23 is currently sold out, a level of demand that has created the perfect conditions for scalpers to attempt to profit off desperate fans who missed out on official sales.

    After the viral Reddit post brought the large-scale unauthorized resale operation to the venue’s attention, IMAX Melbourne moved quickly to shut down the scheme. In an official update posted to Instagram, the cinema confirmed that all tickets purchased through third-party platforms are invalid, have been canceled, and will be considered fake on the day of the screening. “All tickets sold on third-party websites have been cancelled or are fake tickets and are not valid for any session,” the statement read.

    The extreme difficulty of securing official tickets has already drawn comparisons to some of the most competitive live event sales in recent memory, with one commenter online noting, “Why was it easier to get Eras tour tickets than it was to get tickets to this movie?” For now, the venue’s crackdown has blocked the scalpers’ profit scheme, though the intense demand for the exclusive 70mm screening experience leaves many fans still waiting for a chance to see Nolan’s blockbuster on the format it was made for.

  • US actor Jared Leto denies latest accusations of sexual assault

    US actor Jared Leto denies latest accusations of sexual assault

    Oscar-winning actor and Thirty Seconds to Mars frontman Jared Leto has issued a firm denial of a fresh round of sexual assault and sexual harassment claims brought by 10 women, which were first revealed in a new BBC documentary. The accusations, which date back to a 14-year period stretching from 2002 to 2016, include serious allegations of underage misconduct that add new weight to long-simmering concerns about the 54-year-old celebrity’s behavior.

    According to accounts shared in the documentary, two of the accusers say they were sexually assaulted by Leto when they were just 17 years old. A third woman alleges that Leto threatened to sexually assault her when she was 19, while a fourth claims that as a 16-year-old, she received repeated sexually explicit phone calls from the star, who she says propositioned her for sex. The remaining four accusers detail separate experiences of unsolicited sexual harassment during phone communications with Leto.

    Nine of the 10 women have chosen to share their stories publicly for the first time through the documentary, which is titled *Jared Leto: Hollywood’s Dark Secret*. This is not the first time Leto has faced such serious allegations: earlier in 2025, multiple other women brought sexual assault claims against him in an investigative report published by U.S. digital outlet Air Mail. Leto likewise denied all claims of inappropriate behavior at that time.

    In a formal statement released Wednesday responding to the new documentary, Leto rejected all allegations outright. “I have never sexually assaulted anyone in my entire life,” he said. “These claims are absolutely and categorically false.” Leto, one of Hollywood’s most recognizable A-list figures, earned an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2014 for his critically acclaimed performance in the Dallas Buyers Club, and has maintained a successful parallel career as the lead vocalist and founder of the globally popular rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars.

  • BTS pulls out of Grammys after Asian pop category introduction

    BTS pulls out of Grammys after Asian pop category introduction

    One of the world’s most influential musical acts, global K-pop supergroup BTS, has announced it will not submit any of its work for consideration at the upcoming Grammy Awards, a decision that comes immediately after the Recording Academy introduced a new standalone award category: Best Asian Pop Music Performance.

    The announcement, made Wednesday via synchronized posts across each member’s individual Instagram accounts, has sent ripples through the global music industry, reigniting long-simmering debates about racial categorization and inclusion in mainstream Western award shows.

    Prior to this announcement, the South Korean seven-piece band was widely considered a top contender for multiple Grammy general field categories, most notably Album of the Year, for its latest comeback record *ARIRANG*. Released following the group’s hiatus for mandatory South Korean military service, the album — titled for a iconic Korean folk song — has become one of the highest-selling releases of 2024, blending extensive English lyrics with explorations of modern Korean identity.

    In their official statement, BTS outlined the core reasoning behind their choice to skip the 2025 awards cycle. “We have decided not to enter the Grammys this year,” the group wrote. “We hope that music is heard and loved for what it is, rather than being defined by region or language.”

    Industry observers note that *ARIRANG* would not have even qualified for the new Best Asian Pop Music Performance category anyway. Among five new award categories announced by the Recording Academy last month, the new Asian pop prize requires entries to make “meaningful use” of at least one Asian language — a threshold the predominantly English-language *ARIRANG* does not meet.

    The Recording Academy has defended the new category, framing it as a step toward greater inclusion, saying the award was created to honor “artistic excellence in Asian pop music performances originating from or widely recognized within Asian markets, including but not limited to K-pop, J-pop and C-pop.”

    However, the announcement of the new category immediately drew divided reactions from music fans and industry commentators alike. Critics have argued that segregating Asian pop artists into a dedicated separate category ghettoizes their work, rather than allowing them to compete on equal footing with Western and other global artists for the awards’ most prestigious general field honors.

    This is not BTS’s first interaction with the Grammys: the group made history as the first all-South Korean act to top Billboard’s U.S. Hot 100 singles chart with their 2020 all-English track “Dynamite,” and has since performed at the Grammy ceremony multiple times and earned several nominations, including a nod for Best Music Video. Despite their unprecedented global commercial success, the group has never taken home a Grammy win.

    BTS’s boycott adds significant weight to growing calls for the Recording Academy to re-evaluate its approach to categorizing non-Western artists, with many industry analysts expecting the conversation around racial and genre segregation in major award shows to intensify in the coming months ahead of the 2025 Grammy ceremony.

  • Kavinsky, French DJ and composer of ‘Nightcall’, dies at 50

    Kavinsky, French DJ and composer of ‘Nightcall’, dies at 50

    PARIS – The global music community is mourning the loss of one of France’s most distinctive electronic music talents, Kavinsky, the electro-pop composer behind the iconic mood-setting track “Nightcall” featured in the hit 2011 film *Drive* starring Ryan Gosling. The influential artist was 50 years old at the time of his passing.

    Officials with the Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed Wednesday that the composer, born Vincent Belorgey, was found unresponsive at his private residence on Tuesday evening. An official investigation into the exact circumstances and cause of his death has been launched, but first responders have stated that there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the passing.

    Kavinsky’s career reached a new high point just months ago, when he took the stage at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics closing ceremony, delivering one of his final public performances. There, he teamed up with Belgian pop star Angèle to perform his signature hit “Nightcall” for a global audience of millions watching from the Stade de France and around the world.

    Since news of his death broke, tributes have flooded in from across France’s cultural and political spheres. Catherine Pégard, France’s Culture Minister, honored the artist in a post on the social platform X, calling him one of France’s “most singular voices.” Pégard noted that Kavinsky’s work, which blends infectious danceable rhythms with layered nostalgic undertones, will continue to resonate with listeners across multiple generations and international borders for years to come.

    French President Emmanuel Macron also shared his condolences in a public post on Facebook, writing simply: “Kavinsky, forever a source of French pride.”

  • Oscar-winning Irish singer-songwriter Glen Hansard dies in Dublin motorcycle crash

    Oscar-winning Irish singer-songwriter Glen Hansard dies in Dublin motorcycle crash

    Tributes are pouring in across Ireland and the global music community after celebrated Oscar-winning Irish singer-songwriter and actor Glen Hansard died at 56 in a single-vehicle motorcycle crash on the outskirts of Dublin, his management confirmed Wednesday. The tragedy unfolded shortly before 4:30 a.m. in Lucan, a suburban area west of the Irish capital. Ireland’s national police service confirmed that a man in his 50s, who was not publicly identified by law enforcement, received emergency medical care at the crash site but was pronounced dead a short time after the incident.

    ATC Management, Hansard’s representation team, told Irish public broadcaster RTE that the artist’s close family is left “deeply shocked and heartbroken” by the sudden, unexpected loss.

    A defining figure in Irish contemporary culture, Hansard built a decades-long career that seamlessly blended acting and original music. He first earned widespread recognition in 1991 with a role in the hit Irish film *The Commitments*, where he portrayed a member of a working-class Dublin soul band. His most iconic career milestone came in 2008, when he and collaborator Markéta Irglová took home the Academy Award for Best Original Song for *Falling Slowly* — the breakout track from the independent romantic drama *Once*, which starred the pair in the lead roles. The correction clarifies an earlier erroneous reporting that placed the Oscar win in 2007.

    Beyond his film and solo work, Hansard was a foundational force in Irish rock: he served for decades as the frontman of beloved Irish rock group The Frames, formed the acclaimed folk-rock duo The Swell Season alongside Irglová, and launched a successful solo career. His 2015 solo release *Didn’t He Ramble* earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best Folk Album the following year, in 2016.

    Hansard was also deeply committed to charitable work in his home city. For many years, he organized and led the iconic Christmas Eve charity busk outside Dublin’s Gaiety Theatre, an annual event that draws crowds of locals and visitors alike. The open-air performance brings together well-known Irish musicians to raise funds for the Dublin Simon Community, an organization that supports people experiencing homelessness in the capital. Most recently, Hansard made headlines in 2023 for a moving, crowd-pleasing performance at the funeral of The Pogues’ legendary frontman Shane MacGowan, where he performed the band’s classic hit *Fairytale of New York* alongside Irish folk singer Lisa O’Neill — a moment that spontaneously prompted mourners to dance in the church aisles.

    Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin joined the many public figures honoring Hansard’s legacy Wednesday, saying he was “deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Glen Hansard.” In a post to the social platform X, Martin called the artist “a talented musician and actor who made a significant contribution to Ireland’s cultural landscape over many years.”

  • Oscar-winning songwriter Glen Hansard killed in crash

    Oscar-winning songwriter Glen Hansard killed in crash

    The global music and film community is in mourning after news broke that Glen Hansard, the Oscar-winning Irish songwriter and beloved frontman of iconic rock band The Frames, has died in a tragic single-vehicle motorbike crash in his hometown of Dublin. He was 56 years old.

    Hansard, one of Ireland’s most celebrated creative talents, built an extraordinary career that stretched from street performance to the Hollywood red carpet. Born in Dublin in 1970, he cut his teeth as a young artist busking on Dublin’s city centre streets in his teens, honing the raw, heartfelt sound that would define his work for decades. His first major break in film came in 1991, when he was cast as Outspan Foster in the beloved Irish musical comedy *The Commitments*, introducing him to a global audience for the first time.

    It would be another 16 years before Hansard earned his most prestigious career honour, when he took home the Academy Award for Best Original Song for his work on the 2007 low-budget romantic musical Once. The film, which starred Hansard alongside co-writer Markéta Irglová, became a cultural phenomenon, turning its breakout track “Falling Slowly” into a modern classic and cementing Hansard’s legacy as a world-class songwriter.

    The fatal collision occurred on Lower Road in Lucan, a town located west of Dublin city. Emergency services received the first report of the crash shortly before 4:30 a.m. local time on Saturday. Ireland’s national police force has launched an appeal for any members of the public who witnessed the incident to come forward with information to assist their investigation.

    This is a developing breaking news story, and additional details are expected to be released in the coming hours as official information becomes available. Audiences can receive real-time updates on this story via the BBC News mobile app, or by following the official @BBCBreaking account on X for the latest alerts.