France in mourning after death of rock star Johnny Hallyday
Johnny Hallyday, France’s biggest rock star for more than half a century and an icon who packed sports stadiums and all but lit up the Eiffel Tower with his high-energy concerts at the foot of the Paris landmark, has died. He was 74.
President Emmanuel Macron, who knew the star off-stage, announced the death in a statement yesterday, saying “he brought a part of America into our national pantheon”. Mr Macron’s office said the president spoke to Hallyday’s family, but did not provide details about where Hallyday died.
The french media reported widely that he died a this home west of Paris, which was quickly surrounded by mourning fans and police providing security.
Hallyday had had lung cancer and repeated health scares in recent years and recently returned from a hospital stay – yet he continued performing as recently as this summer.
Celine Dion was among stars honouring a rocker with a famously gravelly voice who sold more than 100 million records, filled concert halls and split his time between Los Angeles and Paris. Brigitte Bardot tweeted: “Johnny is a monument. It is France!”
Some of France’s leading political figures on the left and right joined Mr Macron in mourning the loss of the singer. Former president François Hollande, the Socialist leader replaced by Mr Macron, said Hallyday “is part of our national patrimony”.
Hallyday fashioned his glitzy stage aura from Elvis Presley, drew musical inspiration from Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly, performed with Jimi Hendrix, and made an album in country music’s capital, Nashville, Tennessee.
His stardom largely ended at the French-speaking world, yet in France itself, he was an institution, with a postage stamp in his honour. He was the country’s top rock ’n’ roll star for more than five decades and eight presidents, and it was no exaggeration when Mr Macron wrote “the whole country is in mourning”.
“We all have something of Johnny Hallyday in us,” Mr Macron said, praising “a sincerity and authenticity that kept alive the flame that he ignited in the public’s heart”.
The antithesis of a French hero right down to his Elvisstyle glitter and un-french name, Hallyday was among the most familiar faces and voices in France, which knew him simply as “Johnny”, pronounced with a slight French accent and beloved across generations.
He released his last album Rester Vivant – or “Staying Alive” – last year, and performed this summer as part of the “Old Crooks” tour.