Stereophonics frontman Kelly Jones has described the death of Glen Hansard as a 'tragic loss'. The 56-year-old Irish musician died in a motorcycle crash in Dublin in the early hours of Wednesday morning, his management confirmed.
Kelly Jones pays tribute
Jones, who is from Cwmaman, shared a picture of them both on Instagram and wrote: 'From the heart is the best way to describe Glen. It was an honour to sing with him and to share time on and off stage with him talking about music and family was a joy. A beautiful warm man. Today was a tragic loss.'
The pair had performed together when Hansard invited Jones on stage during a solo acoustic gig at the Union Chapel in London in 2024. Before Jones sang the Stereophonics classic Maybe Tomorrow, Hansard said: 'I'd like to invite my really beautiful new friend Kelly who is going to sing a song. I guess we are going to try to keep up.'
Bruce Springsteen, Bono and Ed Sheeran pay tribute
Bruce Springsteen said on Instagram that he was 'heartbroken' at the news. 'We met in Ireland many years ago and he was always nothing but a great musician, a good friend and a generous and gracious man,' he wrote. 'Always positive, smiling and ready to sing. God bless him and his loved ones.'
U2 frontman Bono shared a clip of his band performing with Hansard, describing him as an 'angelic presence'. 'A smiling rascal if you needed him to be… this most musical and mischievous archangel of Ballymun… no airs, plenty of graces,' Bono wrote. 'He really was who you thought he was. He could never walk by a person living rough without checking they were OK… and more than that, he worked very hard so that less people had to live on the streets in the first place. Voice of the streets. A choir of angels in one man. The rest of us blessed to stand there beside our very own and very earthed Angel Gabriel… All of us welcome in his choir, whatever shape or form.'
Ed Sheeran posted on Instagram stories: 'Heartbroken to hear the news about Glen. He was such an incredible human, an incredible force. I am grateful for the times we shared together, sending so much love to his family.'
Hansard's management, ATC Management, said in a statement that his family was 'deeply shocked and heartbroken' and thanked the emergency services. Hansard, who was the father of a three-year-old boy named Christy, had recently announced a tour of Ireland for October and November.
