FFF guitarist for many years, Yarol Poupaud was also that of Johnny Hallyday on his last tours.

The musician, who publishes the book "Electrique" and will release his new album "Hot Like Dynamite" in March, tells Tuesday in "It feels good" how the meeting with the pope of French rock took place.

INTERVIEW

It is the dream of a large number of musicians that Yarol Poupaud has lived for several years.

The guitarist, former member of FFF, which publishes the book

Electric

 and will release his new album

Hot Like Dynamite

 in March, accompanied Johnny Hallyday on the stages of his last tours.

An adventure of which he recounts the genesis on Tuesday at the microphone of Anne Roumanoff, on the occasion of his invitation to the program

It feels good

 on Europe 1.

>> Find all of Anne Roumanoff's shows in replay and podcast here

The meeting between the two artists happened by chance and was only to last the time of a mini-concert.

“Johnny was doing promos, as they say, for the album he made with Matthieu Chedid,” Yarol Poupaud remembers.

It is because Matthieu Chedid was not available that the rocker asked him to replace him one day.

"Would you like to come with me on tour?"

"My first concert with Johnny was a private concert in a very small studio, in front of 200 people", specifies the musician.

"Normal concert conditions for me who used to do concerts in clubs."

At the end of this session, Johnny Hallyday and Yarol Poupaud say goodbye.

The guitarist does not imagine then that he is about to accompany the old rocker in front of whole stadiums.

But the same evening, Johnny Hallyday called him back at two in the morning.

"Tell me, I've been thinking… Would you like to come with me on tour?"

Yarol Poupaud obviously accepts.

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This quick decision is, according to Yarol Poupaud, like Johnny Hallyday at the end of his career.

"Johnny was like that, he made decisions quite quickly and quite clear-cut", he estimates.

"He tended to weigh the pros and cons well. But once it was chosen, it was done."

"Johnny had an inner strength"

Yarol Poupaud also remembers the fairly secret Johnny from before the concerts.

"He had this kind of inner strength, he was very focused before the concerts. We didn't know what he was doing or what he was thinking," he explains.

"Was it emptying? Was it on the contrary, bubbling up inside? I don't know."

One thing is certain, Johnny's preparation was monastic, contrary to popular belief.

"I never saw him even drink a glass of white wine or a beer before going on stage, all day before the concert", recalls Yarol Poupaud.

"Maybe there was a background, and he thought that was enough."