Au revoir, Johnny

PARIS — France bid farewell to its biggest rock star Saturday, honoring Johnny Hallyday with an extravagant funeral procession down Paris’ Champs-Elysees Avenue, a presidential speech and a televised church ceremony filled with the country’s most famous faces.

Few figures in French history have earned a sendoff with as much pomp as the man dubbed the “French Elvis,” who notched more than 110 million in record sales since rising to fame in the 1960s.

Hallyday died on Wednesday at 74 after a battle with lung cancer.

In an honor usually reserved for heads of state or literary giants like 19th-century novelist Victor Hugo, Hallyday’s funeral cortege rode past Napoleon’s Arc de Triomphe monument and down the Champs-Elysees to the Place de la Concorde plaza on the Seine River.

Adding a rock touch to the event, hundreds of motorcyclists accompanied the procession. It was a nod to the lifelong passion that Hallyday, born JeanPhilippe Smet, had for motorcycles. His biker image included signature leather jackets and myriad tattoos.

“Johnny belonged to you. Johnny belonged to his public. Johnny belonged to his country,” said French President Emmanuel Macron.

Fans in streets of Paris bid farewell to singer Johnny Hallyday (above). Below, casket is carried into church.