Hallyday's father, Léon Smet (1908–1989), was Belgian; his mother, Huguette Clerc (1920–2007), was French. Born in Paris, Hallyday took his stage name from his aunt Desta's husband and dance partner Lee Hallyday, a pseudonym for Lee Ketcham, an expatriate Oklahoman, performer, and MC at the Café de Paris where Johnny began his singing career. Johnny was raised by Desta and Lee from a very young age, with Lee being his first manager. Johnny was always very loyal to Lee and secured him a permanent job as a producer and A&R man with his label, Philips Records until Lee's retirement and relocation back to Oklahoma.
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 the late Bruno Coquatrix. For their first concert, The Jimi Hendrix Experience opened for Johnny Hallyday in Évreux on 13 October 1966. Black-and-white footage, also from October 1966, exists of Hallyday partying with Hendrix, his manager Chas Chandler and others. There also is a widely published monochrome photograph of Hallyday walking somewhere in Paris in late May 1966 with Bob Dylan.
At the end of the 1960s, Hallyday made a string of albums with Mick Jones and Tommy Brown as musical directors, and Big Jim Sullivan, Bobby Graham and Jimmy Page as session musicians. These are Jeune Homme, Rivière... Ouvre ton Lit (a.k.a. Je suis né dans la rue) and Vie. On Je suis né dans la rue, Hallyday also hired both Peter Frampton and the Small Faces. Amongst their contributions are the songs Amen (Bang Bang), Reclamation (News Report), and Regarde Pour Moi (What You Will), which are variations of Small Faces and Humble Pie (Frampton's band) songs—tracks and they all play on the album. Often forgotten is Hallyday's non-LP single and EP track Que Je T'aime from the same sessions. By 1969 alone, his sales of records exceeded twelve million.
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 in France, "Mon Plus Beau Noël" (after "Tous ensemble" and "Marie"), dedicated to his adopted daughter Jade. Shortly before announcing his retirement from touring, he released a blues-flavored album, Le Cœur d'un homme, on 12 November 2007. The album hit No. 1 in both France and French-speaking Belgium. In addition to the lead single "Always", Le Cœur d'un homme features "T'aimer si mal", a duet with bluesman Taj Mahal and "I Am the Blues", an English-language song written for Hallyday 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. In 2008 he recorded a series of acoustic songs with French musician Drexl Jonez. Hallyday's most recent album, also a No. 1 hit in France, is Tour 66: Stade de France 2009, a live set recorded at Stade de France during his farewell tour with appearances by Drexl Jonez on the guitar.
French movie producers Michèle and Laurent Pétin introduced Johnny Hallyday to Hong Kong film director Johnnie To. Hallyday was cast as the main role of To's Vengeance after meeting with the director in early 2008. The shooting began in November 2008 and concluded in February 2009.
He was married for 15 years to popular Bulgarian-French singer Sylvie Vartan and the two were considered a "golden couple" for 20 years.
Hallyday completed 181 tours, had 18 platinum albums, and sold more than 110 million records worldwide, making him one of the world's best-selling artists of all time.
Hallyday remains largely unknown outside the Francophone world, thus earning the nickname "the biggest rock star you've never heard of" in English-speaking countries.
On December 5th, 2017 Hallyday died, at age 74, in Marnes-la-Coquette, France.
J'Ai Oublié De Vivre
Johnny Hallyday Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Sur des scènes violentes, sous des lumières bizarres
À force de forcer ma force à cet effort
Pour faire bouger mes doigts
Pour faire vibrer mon corps
À force de laisser la sueur brûler mes yeux
À force de crier mon amour jusqu'au cieux
Portant les projecteurs
Comme une croix dans le dos
J'ai oublié de vivre
J'ai oublié de vivre
À force de courir la Terre comme un éclair
Brisant les murs du son en bouquets de laser
À force de jeter mes trésors au brasier
Brûlant tout en un coup
Pour vous faire crier
À force de changer la couleur de ma peau
Ma voix portant les cris qui viennent du ghetto
À force d'être un Dieu, Hell's Angel ou Bohème
L'amour dans une main
Et dans l'autre la haine
J'ai oublié de vivre
J'ai oublié de vivre
À force de briser dans mes mains des guitares
Sur des scènes violentes, sous des lumières bizarres
À force d'oublier qu'il y a la société
M'arrachant du sommeil
Pour me faire chanter
À force de courir sur les routes du Monde
Pour les yeux d'une brune ou le corps d'une blonde
À force d'être enfin sans arrêt le coupable
Le voleur, le pilleur, le violent admirable
J'ai oublié de vivre
J'ai oublié de vivre
J'ai oublié de vivre
J'ai oublié de vivre
The song J'Ai Oublié De Vivre, which translates to "I Forgot to Live," by Johnny Hallyday is a poem about a man who gets caught up in the fast-paced and demanding lifestyle of being a rock star. Through the lyrics, he expresses how he has become so consumed by the pursuit of fame that he has forgotten to live his life, to appreciate the simpler things, and to focus on the things that truly matter.
Johnny Hallyday expresses how he has sacrificed his time and effort to build his career, playing music on strange stages under bizarre lights, breaking guitars in his hands, and sweating profusely while trying to make the crowd scream. The rockstar has been so busy that he has forgotten to take care of himself, let alone maintain meaningful relationships with his loved ones. He has forgotten that while performing on stage, he was just like Christ carrying his cross, only in this case, he carries a microphone.
Furthermore, there is this sense of disillusionment that permeates throughout the song, whereby Johnny has realized that he has been chasing the wrong things in life, that he has forgotten to live, to love and to be happy. He has been chasing fame, wealth, and material possession, ignoring the essential values in his life. With lines like "J'ai oublié de vivre," which translates to "I forgot to live," Johnny Hallyday's song is a poignant reminder that one should never forget to live life to its fullest.
Line by Line Meaning
À force de briser dans mes mains des guitares
By constantly breaking guitars in my hands
Sur des scènes violentes, sous des lumières bizarres
On violent stages and under strange lights
À force de forcer ma force à cet effort
By constantly pushing myself to the limit
Pour faire bouger mes doigts
To make my fingers move
Pour faire vibrer mon corps
To make my body vibrate
À force de laisser la sueur brûler mes yeux
By letting sweat burn my eyes
À force de crier mon amour jusqu'au cieux
By shouting my love to the heavens
À force de jeter mon cœur dans un micro
By throwing my heart into a microphone
Portant les projecteurs
Carrying the spotlight
Comme une croix dans le dos
Like a cross on my back
J'ai oublié de vivre
I forgot to live
À force de courir la Terre comme un éclair
By running across the earth like lightning
Brisant les murs du son en bouquets de laser
Breaking the sound barrier with laser beams
À force de jeter mes trésors au brasier
By throwing my treasures into the fire
Brûlant tout en un coup
Burning everything at once
Pour vous faire crier
To make you scream
À force de changer la couleur de ma peau
By constantly changing the color of my skin
Ma voix portant les cris qui viennent du ghetto
My voice carrying the cries that come from the ghetto
À force d'être un Dieu, Hell's Angel ou Bohème
By trying to be a God, Hell's Angel or Bohemian
L'amour dans une main
Love in one hand
Et dans l'autre la haine
And hatred in the other
À force d'oublier qu'il y a la société
By forgetting that there is society
M'arrachant du sommeil
Waking me up
Pour me faire chanter
To make me sing
À force de courir sur les routes du Monde
By running on the roads of the world
Pour les yeux d'une brune ou le corps d'une blonde
For the eyes of a brunette or the body of a blonde
À force d'être enfin sans arrêt le coupable
By finally being constantly guilty
Le voleur, le pilleur, le violent admirable
The thief, the looter, the admirable violent one
J'ai oublié de vivre
I forgot to live
J'ai oublié de vivre
I forgot to live
J'ai oublié de vivre
I forgot to live
J'ai oublié de vivre
I forgot to live
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Jacques Abel Jules Revaud, Pierre Jean Maurice Billon
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@fabiengeulot2773
Papa je t aime très fort ça fait déjà 1semain hier que tu ha décidés de prendre ton envolé je t aime Papa d amour un grand fan de JOHNNY HALLYDAY je t'ai rendu hommage avec c est très belle musique papa je t aime
@patrene7263
Bel hommage ❤️
@manonleclerc262
Le mariage est souvent vu comme une prison alors qu'en fait c'est la liberté de construire une vie affective solide cultiver et développer l'Amour dans une famille tous ceux qui sont en fin de vie vous le dirons cest la plus grande richesse👩🦳🙌💜
@manonleclerc262
Cedt exactement ce qui est dit dans cettechanson aimer ce nest pas butiner de fleur en fleur
@christianbeaumont6602
Papa tu monique beaucoup.bisous Christian beaunont
@user-fl1cq2wc7z
Trop beau ❤
@user-cu4ml5zf7w
C’est vraiment la plus belle chanson de Johnny ! Bravo à Pierre Billon pour ces paroles qui touchent chacun d’entre nous à Jacques Revaux pour cette mélodie lancinante et Johnny pour cette interprétation magistrale !
@charlyfunk3929
souvenir de mon enfance qui me rappelle le camp de Harkis ou nous vivions dans des conditions difficile , ou les plus âgée écouter Johny Hallyday , dédicace au ancien décédé , et encore merci à Johnny de nous avoir procuré du plaisir malgré nos conditions de vie très dure , et aussi d'avoir existé sur cette terre ☺☺
@khalidbouih8503
Bravo pour votre message ! Courage 😢❤
@josephdemetrico4792
De succès en succès, Johnny est devenu une légende, toujours premier au hit parade, bravo jo .