Europe 1 06:11, December 05, 2022

An inimitable style, an extraordinary presence on stage, an indestructible bond with his audience... Johnny Hallyday will have been a master of French rock, during his lifetime, as since his death on December 5, 2017. From the 1960s to these last days in the 21st century, Europe 1 retraces its long career.

A presence, an exceptional career and an eternal voice.

Five years ago, Johnny Hallyday died at the age of 74, from lung cancer.

Europe 1 immerses you, through its archives, in the life of the "youth idol".

From his first interview at just 17 years old to his special relationship with the public, through his relationship to rock and his discovery of cinema, listen to the star at the microphone of Europe 1.

Jean-Philippe Smet alias Johnny Hallyday

Jean-Philippe Smet was just 17 when he signed his first contract with Vogue record company.

Quickly, Johnny Hallyday printed his trademark with supercharged shows.

Asked about his success at the microphone of Europe 1 on September 15, 1961, when his first album

Olympia

was released , he simply said: "I sing and some people like it".

A song for history

The successes, Johnny connects them.

The early 1960s was the period when he established himself as "The Youth Idol", named after his famous song.

Noir, c'est noir

(1966) or

Le pénitencier

(1964), successes among many others during those years.

Among all these hits, one of the best known was sung for the first time on Europe 1 on April 22, 1969:

Que je t'aime

.

The song had been composed overnight.

Rock as an emblem

Rhythm and blues, psychedelic rock, soul, or even hippie music.

The 1960s were a veritable reservoir of experimentation for Johnny Hallyday.

Despite its variations in style, there is one that particularly sticks to the skin of the singer: rock.

"Rock is like blues, it's music that will stay," he said in September 1999.

Hallyday, the audience, the stage: the love story

Throughout his career, Johnny Hallyday has been able to count on his fans and his public.

The stage is for him the unique opportunity to meet them.

"My real gift, for me, is to sing on stage. (…) What makes me happy is to please people: to give more than what they expect", he explains on Europe 1 in 2013. A few years earlier, when Johnny celebrated his 63rd birthday at a concert where Europe 1 was present, the singer also declared: "To celebrate a birthday without you is to take a year of more. Whereas with you, I always take a year less".

Johnny Hallyday talks about cinema and acting

More than 20 feature films in his filmography.

Johnny Hallyday is also an actor, who plays under the direction of renowned directors such as Claude Lelouch (

L'aventure c'est l'aventure

, 1972 and

Bastard, we love you

, 2014), Jean-Luc Godard (

Detective

, 1984 ), Costa-Gavras (

Family Council

, 1985) or even Johnnie To (

Vengeance

, 2009).

"At first I wanted to be an actor, not a singer, but life happened differently", confides the artist to Bruno Cras at the microphone of Europe 1, on the eve of the year 2000.