Eddie Vedder Busked on Grafton Street After Glen Hansard's Funeral

Eddie Vedder took to Dublin's Grafton Street with a guitar in the early hours after Glen Hansard's funeral, busking at the spot where Hansard himself had played for decades.

The Pearl Jam frontman performed 'Black' and Bruce Springsteen's 'Drive All Night' alongside Scottish musician Murdo Mitchell and several other players, according to Rolling Stone. Mitchell said the session began around 3am on Tuesday, 4 August 2026, at Hansard's usual pitch on Grafton Street, with musicians Dylan, Tom and Felix joining in.

Mitchell had asked the others whether they would be up for busking at Hansard's spot following the funeral, which had taken place earlier that day in Dublin, as he recounted on Instagram. He shared video clips of the busk two days later, on 8 August, alongside photographs taken by music photographer Danny Clinch.

Glen Hansard died on 29 July 2026 at the age of 56, his publicist confirmed to RTÉ. He was killed in a crash at the Strawberry Beds near Lucan in west Dublin, TheJournal.ie reported.

Hansard had busked on the streets of Dublin from the age of 13, RTÉ noted in a tribute. On his first day, playing off Grafton Street, he earned 20 pence — a detail TheJournal.ie recorded in its retrospective on his career. He went on to found the Frames, win an Academy Award for the song 'Falling Slowly' from the film Once, and become one of Ireland's most respected songwriters.

The connection between Hansard and Mitchell ran deep. Hansard spotted Mitchell busking at the age of 14 and invited him onstage at a show, Rolling Stone reported. Vedder's own friendship with Hansard spanned years of shared stages and collaborations.

The image of one of the biggest rock singers of his generation standing on a pavement where a 13-year-old boy once earned less than a pound carries its own weight. No amplification, no ticket, no barrier between performer and passerby — just a street corner and the songs that outlasted the man who first sang them there.