Hallyday Johnny, born Jean-Philippe Smet, *15 June 1943 Paris, †5 December 2017 Marnes-la-Coquette, French singer, guitarist, composer and actor. Self-taught. In 1954, he made his film debut in Les Diaboliques [Diabolique, also known as The Devils or The Fiends], in 1959 he made his stage debut in the Paris-cocktail revue, and in 1960 he released his first album, T’aimer follement. In 1961, his artistic career really took off: he appeared in the film Dossier and gave recitals at the Alhambra and Olympia in Paris. Soon, Hallyday released his first hits, Retiens la nuit and Viens danser le twist (Let’s Twist Again from Ch. Checker’s repertoire). He appeared in Les Parisiennes (1962), the autobiographical film D’où viens-tu, Johnny?, Cherchez l’idole (The Chase, 1964), earning him the controversial title of “the new Elvis Presley.” As a film actor, he later demonstrated unexpected professionalism, starring in a thriller, a spaghetti western, a comedy, a war drama, and a crime series (1989, the title role of detective David Lansky), alongside real cinema stars such as S. Signoret, C. Deneuve, O. Welles, and G. Depardieu. In 2017, Johnny Hallyday played himself in the musical film Rock’n’Roll. He became famous not only for his French versions of American hits, but also for performing songs written especially for him: L’idole des jeunes, Quand revient la nuit, Je t’aime, Le feu, Jeune homme, Que je t’aime, J’ai problème (in a duet with his wife, singer S. Vartan), La musique que j’aime, Dernière l’amour, Toujours là, Rock’n’roll attitude and hundreds of others. Hallyday’s enormous popularity in France was confirmed in 1979 by his recital in Paris on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of his artistic career. In 2000, the singer’s programme 100% Johnny Hallyday: Live à la Tour Eiffel was watched live by half a million people and almost 10 million television viewers. Hallyday’s posthumous LP My Country Is Love earned Diamond certification on its third day of sales. Faithful to rock and roll, with his exceptionally energetic, expressive, dynamic and often provocative music, Hallyday found many successors in France: V. Taylor, E. Mitchell, C. François. In 1966, he performed in Poland.
Literature: D. Filipacchi Johnny raconte Hallyday, Paris 1979.
