Jean-philippe piter laeticia hallyday biography
Johnny Hallyday: The story of a French rock phenomenon - BBC
Johnny Hallyday: The story of a French rock phenomenon
Rock star Johnny Hallyday, who has died at the age of 74, had phenomenal success in the French-speaking world.
The star, whose real name was Jean-Philippe Smet, sold more than 110 million records and starred in a number of films, including one directed by Jean-Luc Godard.
To mark 40 years in showbusiness, the French icon enjoyed a three-week residency at Paris's most famous venue, L'Olympia.
And he once performed before a million people in a mobile musical cavalcade down the Champs-Elysees.
The French called him "Our Johnny".
Music critics called him "the French Elvis". To almost anyone else, he was the biggest rock star they'd never heard of.
Despite 6,000 fans chartering flights from Paris to see him play Las Vegas in 1996, he failed to crack the American or any other English-speaking market.
That was partly because his songs were so derivative of A Laeticia Hallyday : biographie, photos, actualité - NextPlz MOP