Quite possibly the highest-paid French singer (8.75 million euros in 2006 according to Figaro), Johnny Hallyday was born Jean Philippe Léo Smet in Paris on June 15, 1943, to Hugette and Léon Smet. As a small child, he lived for four years in Great Britain with his paternal aunt, a dancer and silent film actress. Years later, his cousin Desta met an American artist by the name of Lemoine (Lee) Ketcham and they performed all over Europe under the stage name Les Hallyday. Johnny traveled with them for a time, then went to boarding school in Germany and learned to play violin and took guitar, dance, voice and drama lessons. At the age of nine, he began performing on stage.
On March 14, 1960, he released his first single “Laissez les filles” after being discovered by Jacques Wolfsohm, the artistic director for Vogue records. Later that year, he went on his first tour as the opening act for singer Sacha Distel. His first album Hello Johnny was also released in 1961.
He is considered by some to be the French equivalent of Elvis Presley, perhaps because Elvis was one of his idols as a young boy and as he started his rock and roll career. In February 1962, he performed for Jackie Kennedy and he was introduced to the United States public when he went on tour throughout the country that year after releasing the album recorded in Nashville entitled Johnny Sings American Rocking Hits. He appeared on the Ed Sullivan show alongside American singing star Connie Francis on July 1st. Despite these early successes in America and the fact that he owns a home in LA and spends a great deal of time in the US, he remains rather unknown outside his native country.
In France, he attracts huge crowds as he is considered to be a top stage performer (most recently, 500,000 for his 2000 performance 100% Johnny: Live à la Tour d’Eiffel which also attracted 9.5 million television viewers), but he is also widely known for his high-profile romances and love affairs having married and divorced several times.
Some Johnny facts:
500 songs recorded
400 tours
45 albums (18 of them platinum)
100 million records sold
15 million people have attended his concerts
28 movies
At the age of 64, Johnny Hallyday retired from the stage in 2007.
His official website is: http://www.johnnyhallyday.com/
And here’s a video of the song he released in 2008 entitled Si mon coeur.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIbm7zXYxSE
