Johnny Hallyday

Jean-Philippe Smet was born in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, on 15 June 1943 to a Belgian father, Léon Smet, and a French mother, Huguette Eugénie Pierrette Clerc. Léon Smet, who worked as a nightclub performer, left his wife and son a few months later. Huguette Clerc then started a modeling career, which left her with little time to care for her son. Hallyday grew up with his aunt, Hélène Mar, and took his stage name from a cousin-in-law from Oklahoma who performed as Lee Halliday. The latter called Smet "Johnny" and became a father figure, introducing him to American music.

Influenced by Elvis Presley and the 1950s rock n' roll revolution, Hallyday became known for singing rock 'n' roll in French. His debut single, "Laisse les filles" was released on the Vogue label in March 1960. His first album, Hello Johnny, was released in 1960. In 1961 his cover of "Let's Twist Again" sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc. It topped almost every European chart, although the track did not appear in the UK Singles Chart. He appeared on the American The Ed Sullivan Show with American singing star Connie Francis in a show that was taped at the Moulin Rouge nightclub in Paris. He also staged many appearances in the Paris Olympia under the management of Bruno Coquatrix. For their first concert, The Jimi Hendrix Experience opened for Johnny Hallyday in Nancy on 14 October 1966. Film footage, also from October 1966, exists of Hallyday partying with Hendrix, his manager Chas Chandler and others. He also socialised with Keith Richards and Bob Dylan.

His first marriage was to French singer Sylvie Vartan, lasting fifteen years from 1965 to 1980. Their son David was born in 1966. His second marriage to Babeth Étienne was his shortest, lasting for 65 days. Hallyday then had a four-year relationship with French actress Nathalie Baye. Their daughter Laura was born in 1983. His third and fourth marriages were to the same woman, Adeline Blondieau, from 1990 to 1992, and from 1994 to 1995. Inaugurated by Nicolas Sarkozy his fifth and final marriage was to Læticia Boudou from 1996 until his death. The couple adopted a girl from Vietnam: Jade Odette Désirée, born 3 August 2004 (formerly Bùi Thị Hoà), in November 2004.

Hallyday was once called "the French Elvis". The Daily Beast described Hallyday as, "a hip swiveling, leather-clad Gallic answer to Elvis Presley who shook up his home country's music scene with American-style rock-n-roll and bad-boy antics." He remained largely unknown outside the Francophone world and was sometimes described as "the biggest rock star you've never heard of" in English-speaking countries. He was made Chevalier (Knight) of the Legion of Honour in 1997 and Officer of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) in 2001.

One of Hallyday's later concerts, 100% Johnny: Live à la tour Eiffel in 2000, attracted an audience of 500,000 and 9.5 million television viewers (the show was broadcast live on French TV). In December 2005, Hallyday had his third number-one single on the French SNEP singles chart since its establishment in 1984, "Mon plus beau Noël" (after "Tous ensemble" and "Marie"), dedicated to his adopted daughter Jade. Shortly before announcing his retirement from touring in 2007, he released a blues-flavored album, Le Cœur d'un homme. In addition to the lead single "Always", Le Cœur d'un homme features "T'aimer si mal", a duet with blues musician Taj Mahal and "I Am the Blues", an English-language song (uncharacteristically for Hallyday) written by U2's lead singer Bono. His next album, Ça ne finira jamais, released in 2008, another No. 1 on the French album chart, and its lead single, "Ça n'finira jamais", also reached No. 1. Hallyday's album Tour 66: Stade de France 2009 was a live set recorded at Stade de France during his farewell tour. In 2011 Hallyday released album Jamais seul, recorded with Matthieu Chedid, and started touring again. In 2012 he gave concerts in different countries, including Russia, and released the album L'Attente. Later Hallyday released two live albums, On Stage and Born Rocker Tour (a recording of his 70th anniversary concerts in Bercy and Theatre de Paris). Albums named Rester Vivant and De L'Amour were released in 2014 and 2015 respectively. In 2015–2016 Hallyday had the Rester Vivant Tour. A concert in Brussels was released as a live album in 2016.

In July 2009, Hallyday was diagnosed with colon cancer, and underwent surgery. On 26 November 2009, Hallyday underwent surgery in Paris to repair a herniated disc. He suffered complications and was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Doctors announced that they had put Hallyday into a medically-induced coma so they could repair lesions that had formed as a result of the surgery, and to relieve his pain. On 17 December 2009, Hallyday and his wife started legal proceedings against Dr. Stephane Delajoux, who had performed the original surgery. The conflict was resolved in February 2012 following Delajoux's vindication by medical investigators.

Hallyday, who resided in Los Angeles, owned a chalet in Gstaad, Switzerland, from 2006 to 2015 to avoid the high tax rate imposed by the French government. Hallyday said that he would have moved his residency back to France if it changed its tax laws. In January 2014, Hallyday said that his current residence was in the United States after an investigation by a Swiss journalist showed that Hallyday did not spend enough time in Gstaad to qualify as a resident. One of his favorite leisure activities was riding his Harley-Davidson on long trips through the California desert, staying in small motels along the way.

Hallyday died of lung cancer at 10:10 pm on 5 December 2017 in Marnes-la-Coquette, near Paris, at the age of 74. French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute, saying he "transcended generations and is etched in the memory of the French people". On 9 December, his funeral was held in Paris; 900,000 lined the Champs-Élysées as his body was taken to the Madeleine Church and the service was attended by Macron and two of his predecessors. He was buried on the French Caribbean island of Saint Barthélemy on 11 December 2017.

In February 2018 his two oldest children, David and Laura, announced that they were contesting his will, which left his entire estate to his last wife Læticia and their two adopted children. The will was drafted in California, and their lawyers contend that it violates French laws which prevent children from being disinherited.