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.
Jesus Christ
Johnny Hallyday Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Il doit vivre aux Etats-Unis
Il doit jouer de la guitare
Et coucher sur les bancs des gares
Il doit fumer de la marijane
Avec un regard bleu qui plane
Jésus, Jésus Christ
Poncho mexicain sur le dos
Autour de son front, un bandeau
Il est barbu et chevelu
Il s'est battu à Chicago
Il aime les filles aux seins nus
Il est né à San Francisco
Jésus, Jésus Christ
Jésus Christ est un hippie
Dans les parcs et le long des docks
Il vit dans un sac de couchage
On n'arrête pas de l'arrêter
Pour délit de vagabondage
Au grand festival de Woodstock
C'est lui qui soignait les blessés
Jésus, Jésus Christ
Jésus Christ est un hippie
Son père s'appelait Jo, je crois
Sa mère s'appelait Mary, je crois
Il a trente-trois ans, je crois
Le FBI lui court après, je crois
Et s'ils arrivent à le coincer
Ils mettront notre ami en croix
Jésus, Jésus Christ
Jésus Christ est un hippie
Jésus, Jésus Christ
Jésus Christ est un hippie
Jésus, Jésus Christ
Jésus Christ est un hippie
In Johnny Hallyday's song "Jésus Christ," the lyrics tell the story of Jesus Christ being reborn as a hippie in the United States. The first verse depicts Jesus smoking marijuana and playing guitar while sleeping on the benches of train stations. The next verse describes him wearing a Mexican poncho and a headband around his forehead, having a beard and long hair, and being involved in the Chicago riots. He is also depicted as being attracted to topless girls and being born in San Francisco. In the chorus of the song, Hallyday declares that Jesus Christ is a hippie.
The next verse describes Jesus Christ as living in sleeping bags in parks and docks and constantly being arrested for vagrancy. It also mentions that he helped treat the wounded at the Woodstock festival. The last verse alludes to the biblical story of his parents' names and his age when he supposedly died. It also mentions that the FBI is after him, and if they catch him, they will crucify him.
These lyrics are a playful and whimsical retelling of the biblical story of Jesus Christ, imagining what it would be like if he were alive today and embodying the hippie culture. The song's political undertones also suggest that the government would try to suppress a countercultural figure like Jesus Christ if he were alive in today's world.
Line by Line Meaning
S'il existe encore aujourd'hui
If he still exists today
Il doit vivre aux Etats-Unis
He must be living in the United States
Il doit jouer de la guitare
He must play the guitar
Et coucher sur les bancs des gares
And sleep on benches at train stations
Il doit fumer de la marijane
He must smoke marijuana
Avec un regard bleu qui plane
With a blue gaze that wanders
Jésus, Jésus Christ
Jesus, Jesus Christ
Jésus Christ est un hippie
Jesus Christ is a hippie
Poncho mexicain sur le dos
Mexican poncho on his back
Autour de son front, un bandeau
A headband around his forehead
Il est barbu et chevelu
He is bearded and has long hair
Il s'est battu à Chicago
He fought in Chicago
Il aime les filles aux seins nus
He likes girls with bare breasts
Il est né à San Francisco
He was born in San Francisco
Dans les parcs et le long des docks
In parks and along docks
Il vit dans un sac de couchage
He lives in a sleeping bag
On n'arrête pas de l'arrêter
They keep arresting him
Pour délit de vagabondage
For the crime of vagrancy
Au grand festival de Woodstock
At the great Woodstock festival
C'est lui qui soignait les blessés
He was the one taking care of the wounded
Son père s'appelait Jo, je crois
His father's name was Jo, I believe
Sa mère s'appelait Mary, je crois
His mother's name was Mary, I believe
Il a trente-trois ans, je crois
He is thirty-three years old, I believe
Le FBI lui court après, je crois
The FBI is after him, I believe
Et s'ils arrivent à le coincer
And if they manage to catch him
Ils mettront notre ami en croix
They will crucify our friend
Jésus, Jésus Christ
Jesus, Jesus Christ
Jésus Christ est un hippie
Jesus Christ is a hippie
Jésus, Jésus Christ
Jesus, Jesus Christ
Jésus Christ est un hippie
Jesus Christ is a hippie
Jésus, Jésus Christ
Jesus, Jesus Christ
Jésus Christ est un hippie
Jesus Christ is a hippie
Contributed by Violet S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.