Johnny Hallyday (real name Jean-Philippe Smet) was born on June 15, 1943 in Paris, France. His father Léon was Belgian & his mother Huguette was French. They divorced in 1944 & Johnny went to his aunt's house, she was a former cinema actress. Johnny learnt dancing, playing guitar, singing & playing in short films. In 1957, he went back to Paris. Johnny met friends who also became singers, Jacques Dutronc & Eddy Mitchell. At the same time, he discovered Elvis Presley & sang his idol's songs at Paris' Golf Drouot. He was discovered by Jacques Wolfsohn, Vogue's artistic director. In 1960, the young singer released his first 7" under the name Johnny Hallyday. In 1961, he signed to Philips & became the teenage idol at 18 : from Golf Drouot to Alhambra, from Olympia to Palais Des Sports, his fans broke chairs. Hits came : "Retiens La Nuit", "Pas Cette Chanson", "L'Idole Des Jeunes", "Elle Est Terrible", "Da Doo Ron Ron"... In 1965, Johnny married Sylvie Vartan & the following year, their son David Hallyday was born. Years passed & Johnny followed trends. In 1983, he was in love with Nathalie Baye & their daughter Laura Smet was born. Johnny worked with great artists (Michel Berger, Jean-Jacques Goldman, Pascal Obispo & Zazie) to stay on top. He made gigantic shows like his live at Paris' Tour Eiffel with 400,000 fans in 2000. Johnny became a recordman : 80 million albums sold, 900 songs, 100 tours, 18 platinum albums & 17 million spectators.
Source: http://artists.letssingit.com/johnny-hallyday-9gzj3/biography
