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Most Americans will likely not recognize this one, but a great icon of rock 'n roll, dating back to the early days of the 1960's, died yesterday.
This was Johnny Hallyday, and again, although he was unknown to many Americans, he was in fact a huge star. In France, and indeed in much of Europe, he was as well-known and iconic as the Rolling Stones and the surviving Beatles. The New York Times, in their article announcing his death, claimed that he was France's answer to Elvis Presley, and indeed, that was likely not an exaggeration.
Unlike Elvis, however, Hallyday's career endured over many decades, and his stardom only grew with his age. So much was this the truth, that it prompted New York Times writer William Grimes to suggest of Hallyday:
"His career endured so long that when he released an album in 2008 called “Ça Ne Finira Jamais” (“It Will Never End”), the title sounded like a simple statement of fact."
How big was he, really? Well, to give you an idea, he regularly would sell out arenas and even stadiums, and was a superstar, whose fame transcended the music world. He sold 100 million albums worldwide (no, that's not a typo), and acted in more than 30 movies, including at least one of the more recent Pink Panther movies with Steve Martin, where American audiences would have seen him (if not known him by name). He did and was featured on scores of other film soundtracks.
He gave a free concert at the Champ-de-Mars in Paris (just under the Eiffel Tower, and that concert drew a crowd of half a million people, with just under ten million people watching on television. That is roughly a sixth of the entire population of his native France.
Yes, he was that big.
Hallyday did and was featured on scores of other film soundtracks. He was regularly featured on the covers of French tabloids and major magazines. Again, William Grimes summed up why quite succinctly:
"Mr. Hallyday gave his fans more than recycled Elvis. His hard drinking, car crashes, wild partying and tempestuous love life made him a permanent headline in the French popular press. Readers breathlessly followed his on-again, off-again marriage to the glamorous singer and actress Sylvie Vartan, a roller-coaster relationship that led Mr. Hallyday to attempt suicide twice."
I was fortunate enough to have seen Johnny Hallyday a couple of times. The first time was way back in 2000, when he did four shows at the Théâtre St-Denis in Montréal. My father and I made a point of ordering tickets to see one of them, which we did. It was spectacular, and featured guest appearances from some noted personalities, including actor Jean Reno, and Québec's own Éric Lapointe. My brother, my girlfriend and I also saw him in 2012, when he came to New York City. My brother was also at that show at the Eiffel Tower in 2000.
His birth name was Jean-Philippe Léo Smet, and he was inspired to pursue a career in music after watching Elvis Presley in the 1957 film, "Loving You." He was 74 years old.
His birth name was Jean-Philippe Léo Smet, and he was inspired to pursue a career in music after watching Elvis Presley in the 1957 film, "Loving You." He was 74 years old.
Here is a clip of Johnny Hallyday from 1960:
Here are some other clips from various points in Hallyday's career:
Here is a clip of one of Johnny Hallyday's most famous songs, "l'Envie." This has been my favorite Hallyday song dating back to my childhood (again, he was a well-known rock star, so being French, I was quite familiar with him even back then):
Here is a clip from another of my favorite songs from him. Hallyday performs "Je te promets" live back in 1992:
Here is the complete video from the aforementioned show under the Eiffel Tower back in 2000:
These were the main articles that I used in writing this blog entry:
Johnny Hallyday, l’enfant du rock américain December 6th, 2017 by Gaétan Mathieu:
Johnny Hallyday, the Elvis Presley of France, Is Dead at 74 by William Grimes, Dec. 5, 2017:
He was the consummate showman – someone who always delivered a solid live performance, often with dramatically over-the-top entrances, like when he took the stage at Paris' Le Zénith in a gigantic mechanical fist, or when he descended from a helicopter onto the roof of the Stade de France. Unlike some performers, he never held his audience in contempt – no half-assed going through the motions, no "let's get this shit over with" from this guy, ever. I'd say my favorite songs of his, in alphabetical order, are "Cadillac", "J'oublierai ton nom", "Mirador", "Que je t'aime", and "Quelque chose de Tennessee", most if not all of which you undoubtedly know. RIP Johnny, tu vas nous manquer...
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