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Johnny Hallyday to get spectacular 'people's tribute' send-off in Paris Johnny Hallyday to get spectacular 'people's tribute' send-off in Paris
(35 minutes later)
Grief-stricken fans of the French rocker Johnny Hallyday will be given a chance to say a final adieu to their hero with a “people’s tribute” in Paris on Saturday. Fans of the French rocker Johnny Hallyday will be given a chance to say a final adieu to their hero with a “people’s tribute” in Paris on Saturday.
With all the showbiz theatrics for which his live concerts were legendary, the body of France’s answer to Elvis will be driven slowly down the Champs Elysées from the Arc de Triomphe, accompanied by his band playing some of his best known and loved hits. With all the showbiz theatrics for which his live concerts were legendary, the body of France’s answer to Elvis Presley will be driven slowly down the Champs Elysées from the Arc de Triomphe, accompanied by his band playing some of his best-known hits.
Thousands of distraught devotees of the man the president, Emmanuel Macron, described as a “national hero” are expected to line the route as the funeral cortege makes its way to Place de la Concorde. It will then proceed to the grand Madeleine church where Macron will make a “brief address” before a special mass. Thousands of devotees of the man described by the president, Emmanuel Macron, as a “national hero” are expected to line the route as the funeral cortege makes its way to Place de la Concorde. It will then proceed to the grand Madeleine church where Macron will make a “brief address” before a special mass.
On the eve of the funeral, the Eiffel Tower is to light up with the message “Merci Johnny”, which will remain on the monument and will also be projected at a right-bank Paris concert hall until Sunday, the Paris mayor, Anne Hidalgo, announced. The Duroc station on the Paris metro, named after an 18th-century Empire general and aide de camp to Napoléon Bonaparte, has already been renamed Durock Johnny. The Paris mayor, Anne Hidalgo, announced that the Eiffel Tower and a concert hall on the right bank of the river Seine would be lit up on the eve of the funeral with the message “Merci Johnny” until Sunday. The Duroc station on the metro, named after an 18th-century empire general and aide de camp to Napoléon Bonaparte, has already been renamed DuRock Johnny.
A wave of national mourning has descended on France following the death of Hallyday, 74, in the early hours of Wednesday morning at his luxury home in a Paris suburb. The star, a lifelong smoker of filterless Gitanes, had been treated for lung cancer for several months, but had been planning to release another album – his 80th – next year.A wave of national mourning has descended on France following the death of Hallyday, 74, in the early hours of Wednesday morning at his luxury home in a Paris suburb. The star, a lifelong smoker of filterless Gitanes, had been treated for lung cancer for several months, but had been planning to release another album – his 80th – next year.
As has been pointed out more than once in the past 24 hours, it is impossible to overestimate what Johnny Hallyday represented to the French. Television schedules have been cleared for special tribute programmes and airings of his films and his concerts, known as much for his spectacular entrances – Hallyday winched to the stage from a helicopter or riding across the stage in a Harley-Davidson, for example – as the music.
Television schedules have been cleared for special tribute programmes and airings of the films in which he starred and his sell-out concerts, known as much for his spectacular entrances – Johnny winched to the stage from a helicopter, Johnny riding across the stage in a Harley-Davidson – as the music. Friends, associates, fellow celebrities and even television presenters have battled to contain their tears while delivering their homilies and French newspapers and magazines have thrown out almost every other news story to fill page after page with photographs and eulogies.
Friends, associates, fellow celebrities and even television presenters have battled to contain their tears while delivering their homilies, and French newspapers and magazines have thrown out almost every other news story to fill page after page with photographs and eulogies.
Announcing the “people’s tribute”, the government spokesman Christophe Castaner told journalists: “There’s a lot of emotion, a lot of strong emotion, an emotion that brings people together … I believe the French wish to share that emotion.”Announcing the “people’s tribute”, the government spokesman Christophe Castaner told journalists: “There’s a lot of emotion, a lot of strong emotion, an emotion that brings people together … I believe the French wish to share that emotion.”
Details of the funeral were released by the Elysée palace on Thursday. Officials said the president – who was the first outside the family to be informed of Hallyday’s death – and his wife Brigitte would both attend the funeral. The procession down the Champs Elysées was organised according to the wishes of Hallyday’s family, especially his wife Laeticia. Afterwards, the singer’s body will be flown to St Barts, the French West Indian island where the couple has a home, for burial. Details of the funeral were released by the Elysée palace on Thursday. Officials said the president – who was the first person outside the family to be informed of Hallyday’s death – would attend the funeral with his wife Brigitte. The procession down the Champs Elysées was organised according to the wishes of Hallyday’s family, especially his wife Laeticia. Afterwards, the singer’s body will be flown for burial to St Barts, the French West Indian island where the couple has a home.
What the showman himself would have made of all the pomp and circumstance of a national funeral will never be known. In a broadcast interview in 2006, Hallyday, whose musical career spanned 57 years and 79 albums, with sales of more than 110m, was seemingly unimpressed with the suggestion he would be given a state send-off. In a broadcast interview in 2006, Hallyday, whose musical career spanned 57 years and 79 albums, with sales of more than 110m, was seemingly unimpressed with the suggestion he would be given a state send-off. “It’s not that great an idea. I’m not an absolute star … I’m just a simple man,” he told France 3 television.
“It’s not that great an idea. I’m not an absolute star … I’m just a simple man,” he told France 3 television.