强尼·哈里代 (Johnny Hallyday)在国际乐坛上算是法国歌手里的代表人物。虽然2002世界杯足球赛法国队表现叫人失望，但是队歌演唱者强尼借此机会又再掀起一股强尼潮。他于1940年代出生于比利时，十多岁起已经开始演艺生涯，音乐风格影响法国老中青三代人。当被问到“常青”的秘诀，他的回答是坚持自己原则，不随大流。的确，几十年来，他的音乐风格从忧伤抒情到愤怒摇滚，歌声中总是充满男子大丈夫气概。近几年来，法国的男新人歌手多为媒体批评的奶油小生，于是老强尼继续吃香，继续走红。Johnny Hallyday was Frances first and only full-fledged rock star. Other French artists may have been influenced by rock & roll, but none was as beholden to the original sources, or as enduringly successful, as Hallyday. He was a distinctly French phenomenon, never achieving recognition in the U.S. or U.K.; certainly, part of the reason was that a good chunk of his repertoire consisted of French-language covers of early American rock hits. Moreover, his appropriations of Elvis Presley and James Dean captured the French imagination, but — language barrier aside — were often too stylized and imitative to resonate with audiences used to the genuine article. Yet even if his musical interpretations lacked some of the punch of their sources, his sense of rock & roll style, with all its rebellious trappings, was impeccable. His stage presence was undeniably electric, and his life was the stuff of which tabloid reporters dreams are made: high-profile romances (and breakups), cocaine use, chronic tax problems, a taste for auto racing and motorcycles, and other assorted fallouts from life in the fast lane. In the end, though, Hallydays appeal rested on a central balancing act: he may have been fascinated by a foreign cultural phenomenon, but he managed to maintain his essential Frenchness. His covers provided a way for American rock & roll to conquer France, adapting it to fit the countrys own sensibilities without threatening its well-protected cultural autonomy. His later move into quintessentially French balladry helped increase his cross-generational appeal, and somewhat mirrored the career trajectory of his hero Elvis. With a career of several decades behind him, and sales figures in the tens of millions, the unconditionally adored Hallyday still ranks among Frances greatest cultural icons.Hallyday was born Jean-Philippe Smet on June 15, 1943, in the Malesherbes area of Paris. His Belgian parents split up just months after he was born, and he went to live with an aunt, former silent film actress Hélène Mar. His cousins Desta and Menen were dancers, and he accompanied them on tour for most of his childhood. Destas boyfriend and eventual husband, the Oklahoma-born Lee Halliday, became part of the act, and Jean-Philippe would later adopt a version of his last name in tribute to his kindness. Surrounded by show business, the youngster learned guitar and took dance lessons; by age nine, he was already performing on-stage with his relatives, singing songs like The Ballad of Davy Crockett during costume changes. He also appeared in his first film, Les Diaboliques, in 1954. By 1957, the family had given up life on the road and settled in Paris, where Johnny (as Lee called him) sang songs by American country artists as well as Georges Brassens, and also acted in commercials. That year he discovered Elvis Presley through the film Lovin You, and immediately decided that he wanted to be a rock & roll singer. He began performing in clubs and cabarets, some of which kicked him out for singing the new American music.Having adopted the name Johnny Hallyday, he caught his big break in late 1959, when an appearance on the Paris Cocktail television show led to a record contract with Vogue. Hallyday released his first single, Laisse les Filles, in early 1960. Its follow-up, Souvenirs, Souvenirs, became his first major hit, and when he performed at Frances first rock festival at the Palais de Sport in early 1961, he set off a near-riot that led to a ban on rock & roll shows for several months. He switched from Vogue to Philips later that summer, and issued the smash LP Salut Mes Copains, which kicked off the so-called yé-yé era of French pop and made him a full-fledged teen idol. His tour of France that year touched off a hysteria not unlike the furor surrounding Elvis in the States. Toward the end of the year, Hallyday took French citizenship, appeared in the film Les Parisiennes, and had an enormous hit with Viens Danser le Twist, an adaptation of Chubby Checkers Lets Twist Again. Hallydays success continued to snowball over the next few years, mixing American covers (as on the LP Johnny Hallyday Sings Americas Rockin Hits) with more traditional French pop: Retiens la Nuit (penned by Charles Aznavour), Elle Est Terrible, Be Bop a Lula, Pas Cette Chanson, and two of his biggest hits, LIdole des Jeunes and Da Dou Ron Ron. 1963 found him starring in the film Doù Viens-Tu, Johnny?, which was directed by Noel Coward and co-starred fellow pop star Sylvie Vartan.In 1964, Hallyday was called for military service, and much as it had for Elvis, his acceptance of his duty helped make him more respectable in the eyes of the mainstream public. Shortly before his induction, he completed another single, Le Pénitencier, an adaptation of House of the Rising Sun. Stationed in Germany, he married Sylvie Vartan in April 1965, and was discharged late that year. Initially, Hallyday found it difficult to recapture his career momentum; the rock & roll fad had already begun to pass in France, and even Elvis had been eclipsed by emerging stars like the Beatles and Bob Dylan. The socially conscious single Cheveux Longs, Idées Courtes didnt quite give Hallyday the credibility hed hoped for. His son David (later a singer in his own right) was born in August 1966, but not long after, a deeply depressed Hallyday attempted suicide. After his recovery, he issued the despairing single Noir, Cest Noir as a commentary on the near-tragedy. He also assembled a more R&B-influenced touring band called the Blackbirds, headed up by British guitarist Mick Jones (later of Foreigner) and drummer Tommy Brown; their October gig at the Olympia in Paris featured a then-unknown opening act called the Jimi Hendrix Experience.Hallyday covered the Hendrix version of Hey Joe in 1967 (the same year he started racing cars), and dabbled in slightly heavier psychedelic rock over the next couple of years. His title song for the 1968 film A Tout Casser (in which he also starred) featured Jimmy Page as a session guitarist, as did the aptly titled Psychedelic. 1969 saw the release of Que Je Taime, a distinctly Cream-influenced rock record with a hit title track, as well as Je Suis Né Dans la Rue, a darker and more personal record that featured contributions from the Small Faces Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane. In 1970, Hallyday flirted with a flower-child image via the single Jesus Christ (Est un Hippie), but quickly backed away from the posture. He continued to tour internationally and appear in movies, including 1971s LAventure, Cest LAventure; that year he also scored a major hit with Oh Ma Jolie Sarah.Despite releasing one of his better albums in Country-Folk-Rock, Hallydays excesses began to catch up with him in 1972: his debauchery led to a years separation from his wife, Sylvie Vartan. He also mounted a lavish tour dubbed the Johnny Circus that was actually staged in a big-top tent, and transported him between gigs in a Rolls-Royce. It was a financial disaster, mitigated somewhat by his reconciliation with Vartan in 1973. Together they recorded a smash duet, Jai un Problème, that became one of the biggest hits of the summer. On his own, Hallyday also scored with Toute la Musique Que Jaime, written with his primary collaborator for much of the 70s, Michel Mallory. He spent part of 1974 in America, recording an album of rock standards in Memphis (Rock à Memphis) and another of country-rock in Nashville (La Terre Promise); he also rode across Death Valley on a motorcycle, and attended Elvis Las Vegas revue. The following year, he and his family relocated to Los Angeles in order to escape a massive tax debt of around 100 million francs. He continued to score hits in France, among them 1976s Joue Pas de RocknRoll Pour Moi and Gabrielle, 1977s Jai Oublié de Vivre, and 1978s Elle Moublie; however, his double-LP recording of the rock opera Hamlet was a colossal flop.Hallyday collapsed on-stage during an August 1980 concert, and his marriage to Vartan broke up for good by the end of the year; rumors about his private life swirled, and one paper erroneously reported his death in early 1981. Late that year, he married model Babeth Etienne, a union that lasted not much more than two months. Not long afterward, he struck up a romance with actress Nathalie Baye, who bore him a daughter, Laura, in late 1983. Meanwhile, his lyricist, Michel Mallory, was replaced first by Pierre Billon, then Michel Berger, a writer grounded more in traditional cabaret and pop than rock & roll. Berger was partly responsible for 1985s Quelque Chose de Tennessee, which became one of Hallydays biggest and best-known hits. Hallyday also revived his flagging movie career in 1985 by teaming with legendary French New Wave director Jean-Luc Godard for Détective; he would continue to appear regularly in films through the early 90s. His romance with Baye ended in 1986, but that year he dominated the charts with the Jean-Jacques Goldman-penned album Gang, one of his biggest latter-day successes thanks to hits like Laura, LEnvie, Je Te Promets, and a duet with Carmel, Joublierai Ton Nom. 1989s Cadillac featured two songs by Hallydays son David, who would shortly go on to his own singing career.Hallyday remarried again in 1990, this time to Adeline Blondiau, the daughter of a longtime friend; this too proved short-lived, and they divorced in 1992. In the meantime, he released a new album, 1991s Ça Ne Change Pas un Homme, which featured covers of everyone from new-generation French pop star Patrick Bruel to Bon Jovi and Bryan Adams. In commemoration of Hallydays 50th birthday in 1993, his entire catalog was reissued on CD (with numerous compilations appearing thereafter), and he gave a series of gala concerts in Paris. The 1994 English-language album Rough Town tanked, but 1995s Lorada was a tremendous success, spawning hit singles in Jla Croise Tous les Matins, Quand le Masque Tombe, and Ne Moublie Pas. In 1996, Hallyday embarked on his fifth marriage, this time to Laeticia Boudou; he also recorded another album of rock & roll classics in French, Destination Vegas, titled in reference to his concert at the Aladdin in Las Vegas (for which several thousand French fans were flown in). Hallyday was awarded a Legion dHonneur medal by French President Jacques Chirac in 1997, and the following year he gave spectacular concerts to close the World Cup soccer tournament and commemorate Frances first championship. In 1999, Hallyday returned with the successful new album Sang Pour Sang, for which his son David composed all the music (accompanied by various lyricists). Taking a break from recording and touring, Hallyday rang in the new millennium with a couple of acclaimed acting turns in the films LHomme du Train and Crime Spree. In late 2002, he released the double album À la Vie, à la Mort, which produced the hit singles Marie and Ne Reviens Pas.