Try A Little Tenderness

Thirty-five years ago next month, I went to New York from Washington on assignment for The Washington Post Style section to write about the premiere of a little Irish movie that was generating a lot of buzz: The Commitments. One of the breakout stars of the film was Glen Hansard, a 21-year-old Irish musician who played the band’s guitarist, Outspan Foster. At the time, Hansard was the frontman for the fledgling Irish indie-rock group The Frames, which went on to become one of Ireland’s most acclaimed and enduring bands. In 2006, Hansard starred with his partner, Czech musician Markéta Irglová, in the film Once, a semi-autobiographical love story about an Irish busker and a Czech pianist. Hansard and Irglová shared an Oscar for Falling Slowly, a song they wrote and recorded together for Once. The movie was later adapted into a Broadway musical, which won several Tonys, including Best M…