Who Is Johnny Hallyday? 'French Elvis Presley' Dies At 74

Johnny Hallyday touted as France’s first and the biggest rock star died after a severe battle with lung cancer on Wednesday. He was 74.

Telegraph reported that the announcement of his death was made by the office of the French president.

French President Emmanuel Macron's office said early Wednesday,"He brought a part of America into our national pantheon.” Macron spoke to Hallyday’s family after the news and said that “we all have something of Johnny Hallyday in us”.

“Across generations, he carved himself into the lives of French people.He charmed them through the generosity you saw in his concerts: so epic, so intimate, in huge venues, in small spots,” Macron said.

His wife, Laeticia also issued a statement saying, “Johnny Hallyday has left us. I write these words without believing them. But yet, it's true. My man is no longer with us.He left us tonight as he lived his whole life, with courage and dignity," she said, BBC reported.

Hallyday, born as Jean-Philippe Smet, in a career spanning 50 years, sold over 100 million records and starred as an actor in several films. He was popularly known as the “French Elvis Presley”.

Hallyday first began his career in the 1950s by singing French-language covers of famous songs by artists such as Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochrane, and Elvis Presley. It was their example that wants him to become a singer. His first album came in 1960, named “Hello! Johnny”. His first show at a rock ‘n’ roll concert at the Palais des Sports in Paris was so well received that it set a near-riot which led to the ban of rock ‘n’ roll concerts in Paris for several months.

The biggest highlight of his career came in the year 2001 when he performed at the Eiffel Tower and attracted more than 600,000 people. In the span of his career of 50 years, Hallyday recorded over 1000 songs and topped the French music charts more than 30 times, Variety reported.

Unfortunately, Hallyday could not replicate his success in America. The first time the U.S. heard him was during the “The Ed Sullivan Show” in 1962 after which he gave numerous concerts, however, Hallyday never managed to receive a great following.

Apart from being a singer, Hallyday also acted in several films, his first which starred him as an extra, “Les Diaboliques”, in Georges-Henri Clouzot’s classic thriller in 1955. Hallyday’s first major role came in when he played a young rocker on the make in “Where Are You From Johnny?” which also starred his first wife, first wife Sylvie Vartan, also a chart-topping singer.

Born in Malesherbes, Paris, Hallyday was the son of a French mother and Belgian father. After his parents split, Hallyday moved to live with his aunt, Helena. He took his stage name from his aunt’s husband, an American entertainer called Lee Halliday.

Hallyday was France’s first full-fledged rock star and Variety reported had lived through “a failed suicide attempt, a trail of broken marriages, cocaine use, chronic tax problems, a life-threatening motorcycle accident and, near the end of his life, a ghastly botched operation on a herniated disc”. His ability to bounce back from the tragedies life threw at him is what made him a folk hero among the French people.

Hallyday is survived by his wife Laeticia and their two adopted children Jade and Joy along with his son David Hallyday from his first marriage and daughter Laura Smet from his relationship with actress Nathalie Baye.