Johnny Hallyday | |
|---|---|
 Hallyday performing in Milan in 1973 | |
| Born | Jean-Philippe Léo Smet 15 June 1943 |
| Died | 5 December 2017 (aged 74) |
| Resting place | Lorient, Saint Barthélemy, parish church cemetery |
| Occupations |
|
| Spouses | Babeth Étienne
(m. 1981; div. 1982)Adeline Blondieau
(m. 1990; div. 1992)
(m. 1994; div. 1995)Læticia Boudou (m. 1996) |
| Partners |
|
| Children | 4 (including David and Laura) |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | |
| Instruments |
|
| Years active | 1955–2017 |
| Labels | |
| Website | johnnyhallyday |
Jean-Philippe Léo Smet (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃ filip leo smɛt]; 15 June 1943 – 5 December 2017), better known by his stage name Johnny Hallyday, was a French rock and roll and pop singer and actor, credited with having brought rock and roll to France.[1][2][3]
During a career spanning 57 years, he released 79 albums and sold more than 110 million records worldwide,[4][5] mainly in the French-speaking world, making him one of the best-selling artists in the world.[6] He had five diamond albums, 40 gold albums, 22 platinum albums and earned ten Victoires de la Musique.[7] He sang an estimated 1,154 songs and performed 540 duets with 187 artists.[8] Credited for his strong voice and his spectacular shows, he sometimes arrived by entering a stadium through the crowd and once by jumping from a helicopter above the Stade de France, where he performed 9 times. Among his 3,257 shows completed in 187 tours, the most memorable were at Parc des Princes in 1993, at the Stade de France in 1998, just after France's win in the 1998 FIFA World Cup, as well as at the Eiffel Tower in 2000, which had record-breaking ticket sales for a French artist.[citation needed] A million spectators gathered to see his performance at the Eiffel Tower, with some 10 million watching on television.
Usually working with the best French artists and musicians of his time, he collaborated with Charles Aznavour, Michel Berger and Jean-Jacques Goldman. Hugely popular in France, he was referred to as simply "Johnny" and seen as a "national monument"[citation needed] and a part of the French cultural legacy. He was a symbol of the Trente Glorieuses when he emerged in 1960 and a familiar figure to four generations. More than 2,500 magazine covers and 190 books were dedicated to him during his lifetime, making him one of the people most widely covered by the media in France. His death from cancer in 2017 was followed by a "popular tribute" during which a million people attended the procession and 15 million others watched the ceremony on TV. He remained relatively unknown in the English-speaking world, where he was dubbed "the biggest rock star you've never heard of" and introduced as the French version of Elvis Presley.[9]
- ^ "Johnny Hallyday renonce à la nationalité belge". Le Monde (in French). 22 October 2007. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
- ^ "Miles Kington: Johnny Hallyday – Legendary for being legendary?". The Independent. 10 January 2008. Archived from the original on 14 June 2022. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
- ^ "Johnny Hallyday rocks Brussels' blues away". Radio France Internationale. 27 March 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
- ^ "Johnny Hallyday: France's dead rocker scoops sales record". BBC News. 26 October 2018. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
- ^ O'Connor, Raisin (27 October 2018). "French rocker Johnny Hallyday beats Drake's one-week sales figure with posthumous album". The Independent. Archived from the original on 14 June 2022. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
- ^ Brandle, Lars (8 March 2017). "Legendary French Singer Johnny Hallyday Is Being Treated for Cancer". Billboard. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
- ^ "Johnny Hallyday à la conquête du Kremlin" (in French). Retrieved 27 September 2017.
- ^ "SACEM (Society of Authors, Composers and Publishers of Music)-Johnny Hallyday". 6 December 2018. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
- ^ "Johnny Hallyday: the biggest rock star you've never heard of". 9 December 2017. Retrieved 6 January 2018.