Johnny Hallyday, French rock star – obituary

Johnny Hallyday, who has died of lung cancer aged 74, was a rock megastar in France but – rather like the Gallic shrug, the cinq-à-sept, and a deferential Press – was never successfully exported to Britain, where he remained something of an enigma.

In the course of a career launched half a century ago as France’s answer to Elvis Presley, Hallyday earned more than 60 gold and platinum albums, remaining a French idol until well beyond pensionable age.

His professional longevity was all the more remarkable because of his rackety rock’n’roll lifestyle: prodigious partying, particularly in the company of his preferred “photo shoot cover models”, was Hallyday’s abiding concept of la vie en rose, particularly when fuelled by copious quantities of alcohol.