Johnny Hallyday

Johnny Hallyday Biography

Jean-Philippe Lo Smet (15 June 1943 - 6 December 2017), better known by his stage name Johnny Hallyday (), was a French rock and roll and pop singer and actor. In a career spanning 57 years, Hallyday completed 181 tours, had 18 platinum albums, and sold more than 110 million records worldwide, making him one of the world's best-selling artists of all time.

Early life

Jean-Philippe Smet was born in Paris on 15 June 1943 to a Belgian father, Lon Smet, and a French mother, Huguette Eugnie Pierrette Clerc. He grew up with his aunt, Hlne Mar, and took his stage name from a cousin-in-law from Oklahoma who performed as Lee Halliday. The latter called Smet "Johnny" and had become a father figure, introducing him to American music.

Career

Influenced by Elvis Presley and the 1950s rock n' roll revolution, Hallyday became known for singing rock 'n' roll in French. His debut single, "Laisse les filles" was released on the Vogue label in March 1960. His first album, Hello Johnny, was released in 1960. In 1961 his cover of "Let's Twist Again" sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc. It topped almost every European chart, although the track did not appear in the UK Singles Chart. He appeared on the American The Ed Sullivan Show with American singing star Connie Francis in a show that was taped at the Moulin Rouge nightclub in Paris. He also staged many appearances in the Paris Olympia under the management of Bruno Coquatrix. For their first concert, The Jimi Hendrix Experience opened for Johnny Hallyday in Nancy on 14 October 1966. Film footage, also from October 1966, exists of Hallyday partying with Hendrix, his manager Chas Chandler and others. He also socialised with Keith Richards and Bob Dylan.

At the end of the 1960s, Hallyday made a string of albums with Mick Jones and Tommy Brown as musical directors, and Big Jim Sullivan, Bobby Graham and Jimmy Page as session musicians. These are Jeune homme, Rivire... Ouvre ton lit (aka Je suis n dans la rue) and Vie. On Je suis n dans la rue, Hallyday also hired both Peter Frampton and the Small Faces. Amongst their contributions are the songs "Amen (Bang Bang)", "Reclamation (News Report)", and "Regarde pour moi (What You Will)", which are variations of Small Faces and Humble Pie (Frampton's band) songs"?tracks and they all play on the album. Often forgotten is Hallyday's non-LP single and EP track "Que je t'aime" from the same sessions. By 1969 alone, his record sales exceeded twelve million units.

One of Hallyday's later concerts, 100% Johnny: Live la tour Eiffel in 2000, attracted an audience of 500,000 and 9.5 million television viewers (the show was broadcast live on French TV). In December 2005, Hallyday had his third number-one single in France, "Mon plus beau Nol" (after "Tous ensemble" and "Marie"), dedicated to his adopted daughter Jade. Shortly before announcing his retirement from touring in 2007, he released a blues-flavored album, Le Cur d'un homme. In addition to the lead single "Always", Le Cur d'un homme features "T'aimer si mal", a duet with blues musician Taj Mahal and "I Am the Blues", an English-language song (uncharacteristically for Hallyday) written by U2's lead singer Bono. His next album, a ne finira jamais, released in 2008, another No. 1 on the French album chart, and its lead single, "a n'finira jamais", also reached No. 1. Hallyday's last album was Tour 66: Stade de France 2009, a live set recorded at Stade de France during his farewell tour.

Personal life

Marriages and children

Hallyday had married five times, with the first four marriages ending in divorce, and his fifth marriage was his longest, lasting twenty-one years.

His first marriage was to French singer Sylvie Vartan, lasting fifteen years from 1965 to 1980. Their son David, was born in 1966. His second marriage to Babeth tienne, was his shortest, lasting for 65 days. Hallyday then had a four year relationship French actress Nathalie Baye, their daughter Laura was born in 1983. His third and fourth marriages were to the same woman, Adeline Blondieau, from 1990 to 1992, and from 1994 to 1995. His fifth and final marriage was to Lticia Boudou, from 1996 until his death. The couple adopted two girls from Vietnam: Jade Odette Dsire, born 3 August 2004 (formerly Bi Th? Ho), in November 2004, and Joy (Ma-H??ng), born 27 July 2008, in December 2008.

Residence

Hallyday, who resided in Los Angeles, owned a chalet in Gstaad, Switzerland, from 2006 to 2015 to avoid the high tax rate imposed by the French government. Hallyday said that he would have moved his residency back to France if it changed its tax laws. In January 2014, Hallyday said that his current residence was in the United States after an investigation by Swiss journalist showed that Hallyday did not spend enough time in Gstaad to qualify as a resident. One of his favorite leisure activities was riding his Harley-Davidson on long trips through the California desert, staying in small motels along the way.

Illness and death

In July 2009, Hallyday was diagnosed with colon cancer, and underwent surgery. On 26 November 2009, Hallyday underwent surgery in Paris to repair a herniated disc. He suffered complications and was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Doctors announced that they had put Hallyday into a medically-induced coma so they could repair lesions that had formed as a result of the surgery, and to relieve his pain. On 17 December, Hallyday and his wife started legal proceedings against Dr. Stephane Delajoux, who had performed the original surgery. The conflict was resolved in February 2012 following Delajoux's vindication by medical investigators. Hallyday died of lung cancer shortly before 3 am on 6 December 2017 in Marnes-la-Coquette, near Paris, at the age of 74. French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute, saying he "transcended generations and is etched in the memory of every Frenchman". He will be buried on the island of Saint Barthlemy.

Legacy

Hallyday was sometimes called "the French Elvis". He remained largely unknown outside the Francophone world, thus earning the nickname "the biggest rock star you've never heard of" in English-speaking countries. He was made Chevalier (Knight) of the Lgion d'honneur in 1997.

Discography

Main article: Johnny Hallyday discography

Films

Les parisiennes (Tales of Paris) (1962) as Jean Allard
D'o viens-tu Johnny? (1963) as Johnny (but not Hallyday)
Cherchez l'idole (1963) as himself
tout casser (1968) as Frankie
Le Spcialiste (1969) as Hud / Brad
Point de chute (Stumbling Point) (1970) as Vlad Le roumain
L'aventure c'est l'aventure (1972) as himself
Terminus (1986) as Stump
La gamine (1992) as Frank Matrix
Why Not Me? (1998) as Jos
Love Me (2000) as Lennox
L'homme du train (The Man on the Train) (a.k.a. Man on the Train in the US) (2002) as Milan
Quartier V.I.P. (2005) as Alex
Jean-Philippe (2006) as Jean-Philippe
Vengeance (2009) as Francis Costello
The Pink Panther 2 (2009) as Laurence Millikin