Probably like most people outside of France, l knew and indeed still know little or nothing about the phenomenal long-term career enjoyed there by the singer Johnny Hallyday. I figured him as possibly a French equivalent to Britain's Cliff Richard, in other words a singer who started out as an Elvis copyist, but who somehow managed to maintain a successful, high-profile career almost sixty years later. But whereas Richard quickly converted himself to a bible-bashing, asexual family entertainer, Hallyday, at least from the evidence of this five-part Netflix series, went down a very different road. He did the whole sex and drugs and rock 'n' roll lifestyle, attempting suicide at one point, getting through five, often much younger wives as well as a host of other short-term affairs plus generally going mad for the drink as well as the drugs along the way.
He achieved remarkable longevity in his career by carefully selecting songwriting collaborators to reflect changing musical tastes but most of all, seemed latterly to revel in imagining the sort of larger-than-life live-show extravaganzas more associated with the likes of the Rolling Stones or David Bowie at their most megalomaniacal. His fan-base is remarkably loyal, manifested when twenty-two p!ane loads of them flew over to see him in 1996 perform a self-aggrandising one-off gig in Vegas, in so doing of course, emulating his hero Elvis. When he died in 2017, he was awarded a state funeral and the procession along and beyond the Champs Elysses was estimated at over one million.
And yet, even though he was almost unknown outside his home country, I can't think of anyone else in entertainment who seemed to impact so much with his public than Halyday. I wasn't really able to form an opinion on his music which sounded rather derivative no matter the musical era, but he was undoubtedly a strong vocalist, an energetic and charismatic live performer and as the phrase goes, a helluva guy too.
I'm not likely to acquaint myself with any of this music but I really enjoyed this high-octane, warts and all documentary on his wild life and times.
Vive Johnny!
He achieved remarkable longevity in his career by carefully selecting songwriting collaborators to reflect changing musical tastes but most of all, seemed latterly to revel in imagining the sort of larger-than-life live-show extravaganzas more associated with the likes of the Rolling Stones or David Bowie at their most megalomaniacal. His fan-base is remarkably loyal, manifested when twenty-two p!ane loads of them flew over to see him in 1996 perform a self-aggrandising one-off gig in Vegas, in so doing of course, emulating his hero Elvis. When he died in 2017, he was awarded a state funeral and the procession along and beyond the Champs Elysses was estimated at over one million.
And yet, even though he was almost unknown outside his home country, I can't think of anyone else in entertainment who seemed to impact so much with his public than Halyday. I wasn't really able to form an opinion on his music which sounded rather derivative no matter the musical era, but he was undoubtedly a strong vocalist, an energetic and charismatic live performer and as the phrase goes, a helluva guy too.
I'm not likely to acquaint myself with any of this music but I really enjoyed this high-octane, warts and all documentary on his wild life and times.
Vive Johnny!