France loves traditions and honours its past, architecture, families, and those who have achieved something in the fields of theatre, film, or music. Anyone who has ever scored a hit as a French woman or Frenchman can count on eternal fame for the rest of their career. Johnny Halladay is also often wrongly pronounced as Johnny Holiday.
It was a pseudonym of Jean-Philippe Smet, born in Paris on June 15, 1942. This French mix of Elvis Presley and the Dutch folk singer André Hazes sold more than 100 million records. Johnny started making music in 1950 and was extremely popular in France in the sixties.
Like Elvis, he had to join the army at the age of 18 as a result of compulsory military service. He was given permission by the army leadership to record records, which suddenly made the army super cool.
Statue of French rocker Johnny Hallyday in Fréjus
Johnny Halladay also toured America where he wrote several songs in Nashville. However, his superstar image mainly continued to shine in France. He also starred in 30 films, including The Pink Panther 2 (2009).
Halladay was married four times, most recently to a model 32 years his junior. He lived like a rock & roll star, settling in Switzerland in 2006 where he paid 15 times less income tax than in France. He eventually moved to Los Angeles where he died on December 5, 2017.
France now honours him forever with a statue in the French port city of Fréjus.
A statue of the late French rocker Johnny Hallyday of 1,80 meters is to be inaugurated on September 21st in Frejus in the Var. Thousands of people are expected to attend the inauguration of the life-size representation of the singer at the Port of Fréjus. The event is the initiative of the motorbike club founded in 1992 by Johnny. Close friends of the singer and former musicians who accompanied him on stage are expected to be present.
This is to allow the rocker’s fans to pay their respects. Several sites are being considered: Port-Fréjus or the Base Nature, where Johnny performed in 2016 in front of 15,000 people.
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