Johnny Hallyday (born
Jean-Philippe Smet; 15 June 1943) is a French singer and
actorAn actor or actress is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
. An icon in the
FrenchFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
-speaking world since the beginning of his career, he is considered by some to be the French version of
Elvis PresleyElvis Aaron Presley was an American singer and actor. A cultural icon, he is commonly known simply as Elvis and is also sometimes referred to as The King of Rock 'n' Roll or The King....
.
Hallyday, whose music career has spanned a half-century, is one of France's biggest stars. He has completed 400 tours, had 18 platinum albums, performed in front of 25 million people, and sold more than 100 million records.
Johnny Hallyday (born
Jean-Philippe Smet; 15 June 1943) is a French singer and
actorAn actor or actress is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
. An icon in the
FrenchFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
-speaking world since the beginning of his career, he is considered by some to be the French version of
Elvis PresleyElvis Aaron Presley was an American singer and actor. A cultural icon, he is commonly known simply as Elvis and is also sometimes referred to as The King of Rock 'n' Roll or The King....
.
Hallyday, whose music career has spanned a half-century, is one of France's biggest stars. He has completed 400 tours, had 18 platinum albums, performed in front of 25 million people, and sold more than 100 million records. Today Hallyday is still seen as a top stage performer, giving first class shows in crowded stadiums. Hallyday announced his retirement from performing on 3 December 2007 at the age of 64, after a farewell tour. The tour, known as "Tour 66", a play on his age during the tour (66) and the iconic American
Route 66U.S. Route 66 was a highway in the U.S. Highway System. One of the original U.S. highways, Route 66, US Highway 66, was established on November 11, 1926. However, road signs did not go up until the following year...
, is currently ongoing in 2009-2010.
Career
Influenced by Elvis Presley and the 1950s rock revolution,
Johnny, as he is popularly known worldwide, became famous in the 1960s for singing
rock and rollRock and roll is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States after World War II in the late 1940s, from a combination of the rhythms of the blues, from the African American culture, and from America's country music and gospel music scenes...
in
FrenchFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
. His first album,
Hello Johnny, was released in 1960. He appeared on the American Ed Sullivan Show with American singing star
Connie FrancisConcetta Rosa Maria Franconero , known professionally as Connie Francis, is an American pop singer best known for several international hit songs including "Who's Sorry Now?," "Lipstick on Your Collar," "Where the Boys Are", and "Stupid Cupid." She topped the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart on...
in a show that was taped at the
Moulin RougeMoulin Rouge is a cabaret built in 1889 by Joseph Oller, who also owned the Paris Olympia. Close to Montmartre in the Paris red-light district of Pigalle on Boulevard de Clichy in the 18th arrondissement, it is marked by the red windmill on its roof.The Moulin Rouge is best known as the spiritual...
nightclub in Paris. He also staged many appearances in the
Paris OlympiaParis Olympia is a music hall at 28, Blvd. des Capucines, in the 9th arrondissement Paris, France.Founded in 1888 by Joseph Oller, the creator of the Moulin Rouge, the Olympia is the oldest music hall in Paris and one of the most famous music halls in the world, today easily recognizable by its...
under the management of the late
Bruno CoquatrixBruno Coquatrix, was born in Ronchin, Nord on August 5, 1910 and died in Paris on April 1, 1979, buried in the famous Père Lachaise Cemetery . He is mainly known as the owner and manager of the music hall Paris Olympia...
. Many consider Hallyday to have developed well and become a greater performer in his later years, one of his best loved concerts being
100% Johnny: Live à La Tour Eiffel in 2000, which 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 Noël"Mon Plus Beau Noël" is a 2005 song recorded by French singer Johnny Hallyday. It was the second single on his album Ma Vérité on which it features as eighth track, and was released on December 2005 as a Christmas song...
" (after "
Tous ensemble"Tous ensemble" is a 2002 song recorded by French singer Johnny Hallyday. The song was released on April 23, 2002, but it was not included on any album of the singer. It was the official anthem of the French team of football during the 2002 FIFA World Cup. French singer and songwriter Catherine...
" and "
Marie"Marie" is a 2002 song recorded by French singer Johnny Hallyday. It was the first single from his album À la vie, à la mort !, and was released in October 2002...
"), dedicated to his adopted daughter Jade. Shortly before announcing his retirement from touring, he released a blues-flavored album,
Le Cœur d'un hommeLe Cœur d'un homme is a 2007 album recorded by French singer Johnny Hallyday. It was released on November 12, 2007, and achieved huge success in France and Belgium . It was led by the single "Always", a number 2 hit in France, and contains a cover version of Francis Cabrel's 1989 single...
, on 12 November 2007. The album hit #1 in both France and French-speaking Belgium. In addition to the lead single "Always",
Le Cœur d'un homme features "T'aimer si mal", a duet with bluesman
Taj MahalHenry Saint Clair Fredericks , who goes by the stage name Taj Mahal, is an internationally recognized blues musician with two Grammy Awards to date who folds various forms of world music into his offerings...
and "I Am the Blues", an English-language song written for Hallyday by
U2U2 are a rock band that formed in Dublin, Ireland. The band consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr...
frontman
BonoPaul David Hewson, KBE , most commonly known by his stage name Bono, is an Irish singer and musician, best known for being the main vocalist of the Dublin-based rock band U2. Bono was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School where he met his future wife,...
. His next album,
Ça ne finira jamais, released in 2008, reached #1 on the French album chart, and its lead single, "
Ça n'finira jamais"Ça n'finira jamais" is a 2008 song recorded by French artist Johnny Hallyday. It was the first single from his album of the same name on which it features as first track...
", became his fourth #1 single in France. Hallyday's most recent album, also a #1 hit in France, is
Tour 66: Stade de France 2009, a live set recorded at
Stade de FranceThe Stade de France is the national stadium of France, situated in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis. It has an all-seater capacity of 81,338 and is used for the French rugby union team during the Six Nations and other major internationals...
during his farewell tour.
Hallyday remains largely unknown outside of France, thus earning the nickname "the biggest rock star you've never heard of" in English-speaking countries.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/go/tag/view/blog_post/Johnny%20Hallyday He was made
Chevalier (Knight) of the
Légion d'honneurThe Légion d'honneur or Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
in 1997.
Trivia
Hallyday hired
Peter FramptonPeter Kenneth Frampton is a British/American musician, singer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. He was previously associated with the bands Humble Pie and The Herd, among others. In 1982 Frampton tried unsuccessfully to split his ties with A&M Records; however, he re-signed with the label in...
and the Small Faces to record on his 1969 album
Rivière... Ouvre ton Lit.
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 PieTo eat humble pie, in common usage, is to apologize and face humiliation for a serious error. Humble pie, or umble pie, is also a term for a variety of pastries, originally based on medieval meat tripe pies.- Etymology :...
tracks and they can be heard playing on the album. Often forgotten is Hallyday's non-LP single and EP track "Que Je T'aime" from the same sessions. For their first concert,
The Jimi Hendrix ExperienceThe Jimi Hendrix Experience were an English–American rock band, formed in London in 1966. Originally comprising American guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Jimi Hendrix, bassist and backing vocalist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell, the band was active until 1969, in which time they...
opened for Johnny Hallyday in
EvreuxÉvreux is a commune in Haute-Normandie in northern France in the Eure department, of which it is the capital.Its inhabitants are called the Ébroïcienne and Ébroïciens .-History:...
on October 13, 1966. B/W footage, also from October, 1966 exists of Hallyday partying with Hendrix and his manager Chas Chandler and others. In November 2005, he started a procedure to obtain Belgian citizenship but his request was turned down in 2006 because he failed to fulfill the residency requirements. In late 2006, Hallyday announced that he would move his permanent residency to
GstaadGstaad is a village with a population of 2,500 located above sea level, in the German-speaking section of the Canton of Berne in southwestern Switzerland...
,
SwitzerlandSwitzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 states named cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities...
to escape the high tax rate imposed by the French government. Swiss law allows wealthy individuals to claim residency if they live six months and one day in the country and then pay a fixed tax based on expenses, such as rent or assets in Switzerland, rather than a percentage of their income. Hallyday has said that he would move his residency back to France if it changes its tax laws. Hallyday supported
Nicolas SarkozyNicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra...
in the 2007 French presidential election. In an ironic twist, when the Canadian comedy duo the
Masked AvengersThe Masked Avengers, or Les Justiciers Masqués, are a Canadian radio duo from Montreal, Quebec, made up of disc jockeys and comedians Sébastien Trudel and Marc-Antoine Audette, known for making prank calls to famous persons by pretending to be government officials or officers in charitable...
prank-calledOn November 1, 2008, American vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin fell prey to a prank call by the Masked Avengers, a Canadian radio comedy duo, who tricked Palin into believing she was talking to French President Nicolas Sarkozy. During the conversation, the fake Sarkozy talked to Palin about...
American vice-presidential nominee
Sarah PalinSarah Louise Palin is an American politician who served as Governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009 and was the Republican candidate for Vice President of the United States in 2008....
by pretending to be Sarkozy, they named Hallyday as Sarkozy's "Special American Advisor."
Hallyday also keeps a home in
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the municipality of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123.445 inhabitants...
, where he has been spending increasing amounts of time in recent years, enjoying his relative anonymity in the U.S. One of his favorite leisure activities is riding his
Harley-DavidsonHarley-Davidson , often abbreviated H-D or Harley, is an American motorcycle manufacturer. Founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, during the first decade of the 20th century, it was one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depression...
on long trips through the California desert, staying in small motels along the way.
Studio albums
- Hello Johnny (1960, Vogue)
- Nous les Gars, Nous les Filles (1961, Vogue)
- Tête a Tête avec Johnny (1961, Vogue)
- Salut les Copains! (1961, Philips)
- Johnny Hallyday sings America's Rockin' Hits (1962, Philips)
- Les Bras en Croix (1963, Philips)
- Les Rocks les Plus Terribles (1964, Philips)
- Halleluyah (1965, Philips)
- Johnny Chante Hallyday (1965, Philips)
- La Génération Perdue (1966, Philips)
- Johnny 67 (1967, Philips)
- Jeune Homme (1968, Philips)
- Rêve et Amour (1968, Philips)
- Rivière... Ouvre ton Lit (1969, Philips)
- Vie (1970, Philips)
- Flagrant Délit (1971, Philips)
- Country-Folk-Rock (1972, Philips)
- Insolitudes (1973, Philips)
- Je t'Aime, Je t'Aime, Je t'Aime (1974, Philips)
- Rock'n Slow (1974, Philips)
- Rock a Memphis (1975, Philips)
- La Terre Promise (1975, Philips)
- Derrière l'Amour (1976, Philips)
- Hamlet (1976, Philips)
- C'est la Vie (1977, Philips)
- Solitudes a Deux (1978, Philips)
- Hollywood (1979, Philips)
- À Partir de Maintenant... (1980, Philips)
- En Pièces Détachées (1981, Philips)
- Pas Facile (1981, Philips)
- Quelque Part un Aigle (1982, Philips)
- La Peur (1982, Philips)
- Entre Violence et Violon (1983, Philips)
- Hallyday 84: Nashville en Direct (1984, Philips)
- En V.O. (1984, Philips)
- Rock'n'Roll Attitude (1985, Philips)
- Gang (1986, Philips)
- Cadillac
Cadillac is a 1989 album recorded by French singer Johnny Hallyday. It was released in June 1989 and achieved success in France, where it debuted at #1 for eight consecutive weeks on the SNEP albums chart on July 2, 1989, and totaled 61 weeks in the top 50...
(1989, Philips)
- Ça ne change pas un homme
Ça ne change pas un homme is a 1991 album recorded by French singer Johnny Hallyday. It was in late December 1991 and achieved success in France, where it debuted at a peak at #3 on the charts on January 1, 1991, and totaled 43 weeks on the chart...
(1991, Philips)
- Rough Town
Rough Town is a 1994 album recorded by French singer Johnny Hallyday. It is entirely written in English-language to win over the anglophone countries. It was in September 1994 and achieved success in France, where it debuted at the top of the charts on October 2, 1994, but dropped just after and...
(1994, Philips)
- Lorada
Lorada is a 1995 album recorded by French singer Johnny Hallyday. It was released on June 20, 1995, and achieved success in France and Belgium , where, however, it failed to top the charts, being blocked by Michael Jackson's HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I and Céline Dion's D'eux...
(1995, Philips)
- Ce que je sais
Ce que je sais is a 1998 album recorded by French singer Johnny Hallyday. It was released on January 24, 1998, and achieved success in France and Belgium , where, however, it failed to top the charts, being blocked by the soundtrack album of The Titanic...
(1998, Philips)
- Sang pour sang
Sang pour sang is a 1999 album recorded by French singer Johnny Hallyday. It was released on September 13, 1999, and achieved huge success in France and Belgium , where it topped the charts and stayed on the charts for respectively two and one years...
(1999, Philips)
- À la vie, à la mort !
À la vie, à la mort ! is a 2002 double album recorded by French singer Johnny Hallyday. It was released on November 4, 2002 and achieved huge success in France and Belgium , where it topped the charts, and in Switzerland. It provided four top ten singles in France : "Marie" , "Ne reviens pas" ,...
(2002, Mercury)
- Ma Vérité
Ma Vérité is a 2005 album recorded by French singer Johnny Hallyday. It was released on November 6, 2005, and achieved huge success in France and Belgium , where it topped the charts. It provided three top ten singles in France : "Ma religion dans son regard" , "Mon Plus Beau Noël" and "Le temps...
(2005, Mercury)
- Le Cœur d'un homme
Le Cœur d'un homme is a 2007 album recorded by French singer Johnny Hallyday. It was released on November 12, 2007, and achieved huge success in France and Belgium . It was led by the single "Always", a number 2 hit in France, and contains a cover version of Francis Cabrel's 1989 single...
(2007, Warner Music France)
- Ça ne finira jamais (2008, Warner Music France)
Live albums
- Johnny et Ses Fans au Festival de Rock'n'Roll (1961, Vogue)
- À l'Olympia (1962, Philips)
- Olympia 64 (1964, Philips)
- Olympia 67 (1967, Philips)
- Au Palais des Sports (1967, Philips)
- Que Je t'Aime (1969, Philips)
- Live at the Palais des Sports (1971, Philips)
- Palais des Sports (1976, Philips)
- Pavillon de Paris (1979, Philips)
- Live (1981, Universal Music)
- Palais des Sports 1982 (1982, Universal Music)
- Au Zénith (1984, Universal Music)
- À Bercy (1987, Universal Music)
- Dans la Chaleur de Bercy (1990, Universal Music)
- Bercy 92 (1992, Universal Music)
- Parc des Princes (1993, Universal Music)
- À La Cigale (1994, Universal Music)
- Lorada Tour (1995, Universal Music)
- Destination Vegas (1996, Universal Music)
- Johnny Allume le Feu: Stade de France 98 (1998, Universal Music)
- 100% Johnny: Live a La Tour Eiffel (2000, Universal Music)
- Olympia 2000 (2000, Universal Music)
- Parc des Princes 2003 (2003, Universal Music)
- Flashback Tour Live (2006, Warner Music)
- La Cigale (2007, Warner Music)
- Tour 66: Stade de France 2009 (2009, Warner Music)
Films
- L'aventure c'est l'aventure
L'aventure c'est l'aventure is a 1972 French film directed by Claude Lelouch. The film was screened at the 1972 Cannes Film Festival, but wasn't entered into the main competition.-Cast and roles:* Lino Ventura - Lino Massaro* Jacques Brel - Jacques...
(1974) as himself
- Détective
Détective is a 1985 French crime film directed by Jean-Luc Godard. It was entered into the 1985 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Laurent Terzieff - William Prospero* Aurelle Doazan - Arielle* Jean-Pierre Léaud - Inspector Neveu...
(1985) directed by Jean-Luc GodardJean-Luc Godard is a French and Swiss filmmaker and one of the founding members of the Nouvelle Vague, or "French New Wave"....
- Why Not Me?
Why Not Me? is a 1999 French comedy film written and directed by Stéphane Giusti. It is about a group of gay French friends living in Barcelona who decide to have a dinner party and come out to their parents.-Cast:* Amira Casar as Camille...
(1999) as José
- Love Me (2000) as Lennox
- L'homme du train
L'homme du train is a 2002 French crime-drama film, directed by Patrice Leconte, starring Jean Rochefort and Johnny Hallyday...
(The Man on the Train) (aka Man on the Train in the USThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
) (2002) as Milan
- Crime Spree
Crime Spree is a 2003 film written and directed by Brad Mirman.Tagline: It was supposed to be an easy job.-Main cast:* Gérard Depardieu - Daniel Foray* Harvey Keitel - Frankie Zammeti* Johnny Hallyday - Marcel Burot* Renaud - Zéro...
(2003) as Marcel Burot
- Crimson Rivers II: Angels of the Apocalypse
Crimson Rivers II: Angels of the Apocalypse, known as Les Rivières pourpres II: Les anges de l'apocalypse in the French release, is a 2004 thriller-action movie starring Jean Reno, Benoit Magimel and Christopher Lee. It is directed by Olivier Dahan and produced by Ilan Goldman...
(2004) as L'ermite borgne
- Quartier V.I.P. (2005) as Alex
- Jean-Philippe
Jean-Philippe is a French film, directed by Laurent Tuel and starring Fabrice Luchini and Johnny Hallyday. The film was released on the 5th of April 2006.- Synopsis :...
(2006) as Jean-Philippe
- Vengeance
Vengeance is a 2009 neo-noir crime film directed by Johnnie To from a screenplay written by Wai Ka-Fai. A co-production between Hong Kong and France, Vengeance features an international ensemble cast that includes Johnny Hallyday, Sylvie Testud, Simon Yam, Anthony Wong, Lam Suet, Lam Ka-Tung,...
(2009) as François Costello
- The Pink Panther 2 (2009) as Laurence Millikin
External links
Official site The Best Site on Johnny Hallyday in France First site about Johnny Hallyday