Daniel Kreps
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Barack Obama Scott Olson/Getty Images Barack Obama has shared his annual summer playlist, which the former president started on a somber note by acknowledging the death of Glen Hansard.
“Here are some of the songs I’ve been listening to this summer,” Obama wrote on social media Thursday. “It starts with a song Michelle and I love by Glen Hansard, a great musician who passed tragically this week. Our hearts go out to his family.”
Obama opened his playlist with Hansard’s “Song of Good Hope,” which featured on the Irish singer-songwriter’s 2012 solo debut Rhythm and Repose; Hansard died Wednesday at the age of 56 in a motorcycle accident.
Here are some of the songs I've been listening to this summer. It starts with a song Michelle and I love by Glen Hansard, a great musician who passed tragically this week. Our hearts go out to his family. pic.twitter.com/3A1trYfXfx
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) July 30, 2026
Like all of Obama’s summer songs playlist, the tracks span all genres of music, from rock — notably the Strokes’ “Going Shopping,” Coldplay’s “Charlie Brown” and the Beatles (“Revolution”) and David Bowie (“Modern Love”) classics — to folk (Noah Kahan’s “Doors,” Mumford & Sons and Hozier’s “Rubber Band Man”) to R&B (Tyla featuring Zara Larsson’s “She Did It Again,” Kelela’s “Idea 1,” Luther Vandross’ “Anyone Who Had a Heart”).
