The beguiling feature of the funeral of French music icon Johnny Hallyday was his ability to stage-manage his destiny, right up to the final hour, and the star power that his being retained even in death. There he was – and there was France.
Editors’ Note:
French music icon Johnny Hallyday, credited with having brought rock ’n’ roll to France in the early 1960s, died in Paris on December 6 at age 74. His funeral on December 9 brought nearly a million people into the streets of the French capital. The first of his 57 albums was entitled “Hello, Johnny.”
PARIS – What better send-off for a rocker than Saturday’s vast, silent concert on the steps of a church? And what better farewell to a great performer than the one delivered by the immense crowd chanting around a body that seemed to have arranged, from the great beyond, this last demonstration of enthusiasm and love?
French music icon Johnny Hallyday, credited with having brought rock ’n’ roll to France in the early 1960s, died in Paris on December 6 at age 74. His funeral on December 9 brought nearly a million people into the streets of the French capital. The first of his 57 albums was entitled “Hello, Johnny.”
PARIS – What better send-off for a rocker than Saturday’s vast, silent concert on the steps of a church? And what better farewell to a great performer than the one delivered by the immense crowd chanting around a body that seemed to have arranged, from the great beyond, this last demonstration of enthusiasm and love?