Musician Warren Ellis has paid tribute to his late friend Glen Hansard by recounting the story of a guitar the Irish singer sent him a decade ago.
Ellis posted on Instagram about the Gibson tenor guitar that arrived with a note reading "If there's a song in it you'll find it." He described Hansard as someone who made "everyone Glen crossed in life... richer for the experience."
Hansard, the Oscar-winning star of Once and frontman of The Frames, died at age 56 after a motorcycle crash in Dublin on July 29. Ellis also recalled their first meeting in the mid-1990s and Hansard's support for his band Dirty Three.
Hansard's family has scheduled a public wake for August 3 at the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin, followed by a funeral the next day at St Patrick's Cathedral. The service will feature music from friends and family and will be broadcast publicly.
Ellis performed with Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds in Brighton on July 31, where Kylie Minogue joined them for a performance of "Where the Wild Roses Grow."