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.
Souvenirs souvenirs
Johnny Hallyday Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Je ne peux un instant l'effacer
Si je joue l'indifférent
Chaque jour, chaque instant
Mon cœur se souvient d'elle tout le temps
Et quand elle est partie
Je me suis bien promis
Je le croyais
Mais la vie est ainsi
Rien ne peut s'effacer
J'ai oublié de me souvenir de l'oublier
Et quand elle est partie
Je me suis bien promis
Que je l'oublierais
Je le croyais
Mais la vie est ainsi
Rien ne peut s'effacer
J'ai oublié de me souvenir de l'oublier
In "Souvenirs Souvenirs," Johnny Hallyday nostalgically recalls the memories of his past, and how they continue to linger in his present. He declares how the memories of his past, particularly the memories of the happy times he spent with loved ones, still have the power to make him happy in the present. He mentions memories of one particular evening he spent dancing with someone, and the memories of carefree, joyful summer days spent wandering and exploring.
The song goes on to describe how these memories are still important to him, particularly the memories of the songs they shared. He sings about how these memories shaped him in the past, and how they continue to shape him now.
Overall, "Souvenirs Souvenirs" is a touching tribute to the joys and sorrows of memory, and the power that reminiscing can hold over our lives.
Line by Line Meaning
Souvenirs, souvenirs
Reminiscing about the past moments we shared
Je vous retrouve dans mon cœur
I find you in my heart
Et vous faites refleurir
And you make my dreams of happiness bloom again
Tous mes rêves de bonheur
All my dreams of happiness
Je me souviens d'un soir de danse
I remember a night of dancing
Joue contre joue
Cheek to cheek
Des rendez-vous de nos vacances
Meetings during our holidays
Quand nous faisions les fous
When we were acting crazy
De nos beaux jours de l'été
Of our beautiful summer days
Lorsque nous partions cueillir
When we went picking
Mille fleurs, mille baisers
A thousand flowers, a thousand kisses
Et pour mieux garder dans ma tête
And to better keep in my head
Les joies de la belle saison
The joys of the beautiful season
Il nous reste nos chansons
We still have our songs
Dès départ dans le matin
From the early morning departure
Où le soleil semblait rire
Where the sun seemed to be laughing
Tout le long de nos chemins
All along our paths
Nous n'avions au fond de nos poches
We had nothing in our pockets
Qu'un peu d'espoir
Just a little bit of hope
Mais nous partions comme Gavroche
But we left like Gavroche
Le cœur assez bavard
With a heart quite talkative
Vous revenez dans ma vie
You come back into my life
Illuminant l'avenir
Illuminating the future
Lorsque mon ciel est trop gris
When my sky is too gray
On dit que le temps vous emporte
It is said that time carries you away
Et pourtant ça, j'en suis certain
And yet, I'm certain of this
Vous resterez mes copains
You will remain my buddies
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Charlie A Feathers, Stanley A Kesler, Ralph Bernet
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@victorvelazquez6547
Some of my non-French speaking friends want the words to this song & since I read, write & also speak French & an assortment of other languages, I’ve put them here. P.S. For those who, unfortunately,(a tear welling up "BIG-TIME" in my eye) do not speak or understand the AMAZING, DRAMATIC & sometimes SENSATIONAL French language, here are the words, translated(or interpreted) into (U.S.)English. anglais américain - Il existe de nombreuses différences entre l'anglais britannique et l'anglais américain.(There are plenty of spelling differences between American English and British English.) Love live French pop music! P.S. Bravo a les Ye-Ye!(Hats off to the pop singers [or teenage fans] of the early 1960’s!)
SOUVENIRS, SOUVENIRS(1960) de Johnny Hallyday
Souvenirs, souvenirs
je vous retrouve dans mon cœur
Et vous faites refleuri
tous mes rêves de bonheur
Je me souviens d’un soir de danse,
joue contre joue
Des rendez-vous de nos vacances
quand nous faisions les fous
Souvenirs, souvenirs
de nos beaux jours de l’été
Lorsque nous partions cueillir
mille fleurs, mille baisers
Et pour mieux garder dans ma tête
les joies de la belle saison
Souvenirs, souvenirs,
il nous reste nos chansons
(piece Instrumental)
Souvenirs, souvenirs
quelque part dans le matin
Où le soleil semblait rire
tout le long de nos chemins
Nous n’avions au fond de nos poches
qu’un peu d’espoir
Mais nous partions comme Gavroche
le cœur assez bavard
Souvenirs, souvenirs,
vous revenez dans ma vie
Illuminant l’avenir
lorsque mon ciel est trop gris
On dit que le temps vous emporte
et pourtant ça, j’en suis certain
Souvenirs, souvenirs,
vous resterez mes copains.
MEMORIES, MEMORIES(1960) by Johnny Hallyday
Memories, oh memories,
I find you in my heart
And I recall
My recollections of joy
I remember dancing one evening
cheek to cheek
Our time together while on vacation
While we were behaving like foolish kids
Memories, oh memories
of our beautiful days of summer
When we went gathering
Thousands of flowers, thousand of kisses
I keep this with me
the joys of summer
Memories, oh memories,
We’ve got our songs to reminisce
(Instrumental)
Memories, oh memories
sometimes in the morning
When the sun appeared
to accompany us along our paths
We were broke
With just a bit of hope
We left with personalities like Gavroche (fictional “street child” in “Les Miserables(1862)-Victor Hugo)
With a gabby heart
Memories, oh memories,
You’ve come back in my life
Brighting up the future
While it looked so dim
They say you fade away in time
But still, I am quite sure
Memories, oh memories,
We'll always remain buddies(forever)
@victorvelazquez6547
La mort n'est rien,
je suis seulement passé,
dans la pièce à côté.
Je suis moi.
Vous êtes vous.
Ce que j'étais pour vous,
je le suis toujours.
Donnez-moi le nom que vous m'avez toujours donné,
parlez-moi comme vous l'avez toujours fait.
N'employez pas un ton différent, ne prenez pas un air solennel ou triste.
Continuez à rire de ce qui nous faisait rire ensemble.
Priez, souriez,
pensez à moi,
priez pour moi.
Que mon nom soit prononcé à la maison
comme il l'a toujours été,
sans emphase d'aucune sorte,
sans une trace d'ombre.
La vie signifie tout ce qu'elle a toujours été.
Le fil n'est pas coupé.
Pourquoi serais-je hors de vos pensées,
simplement parce que je suis hors de votre vue ?
Je ne suis pas loin, juste de l'autre côté du chemin.
Canon Henry Scott-Holland (1847-1918), traduction d'un extrait de "The King of Terrors", sermon sur la mort 1910 Quelquefois attribué à Charles Péguy, d'après un texte de Saint Augustin
RIP mon Johnny ... grand frère. Salut du Virginia Beach, Virginia, les USA
P.-S. Merci Johnny pour toutes tes chansons qui ont berceaient notre jeunesse. :^()
@bernardvidal8903
La chanson culte des années 60. Indémodable ! Toujours aussi fraîche après tant d' années. Vive Johnny éternel ! Respect !
@jacdegjadgy8125
GENIAL! Toute une époque à jamais disparue où il faisait bon vivre!
@mathildemantelli9758
Chanson de l’année 1961, je suis née en 94, et je l’écoute tout les matins. Johnny c’est toutes les générations ! Bisous de la haut le grand ! ❤️🎸
@FanJohnnyJojo
Bravo et tu a bien raison
@colchoneros5076
Moi un 2004 et je fais pareil
@FanJohnnyJojo
@Yann Levy kayembe tu est un bon et vive le boss
@annemarielormieres8744
Née le 21/03/1954, toujours d'actualité
@almercado8148
Je suis de 1993 , j'adore aussi ! Mon seul regret est de ne pas être née plus tôt mais ravis de voir que je ne suis pas le seul à aimer ça ! 😁🤙
@javierorosmartin98
Mis padres, emigrantes en Francia en los 60 me transmitieron la pasión por Jhonny Hallyday.
@supersouffrance
Tant de souvenirs de toi Johnny qui as apporté de magnifiques moments de bonheur dans ma vie depuis 1964......