Johnny Hallyday died on February 5, 2017 from lung cancer, and would have been 81 this year. In his new album, his eldest son, David Hallyday, decided to pay tribute to him. Entitled
Requiem for a fool, this disc mixes his songs with those of his father, while rearranging them. As part of the promotion of this album, Sylvie Vartan’s son answered daily questions
West France Friday June 28, 2024.
“My first idea was to make a tribute to Sang pour sang (the album he composed and produced for his father) for the 25th anniversary of the record. I imagined an evening in an unusual place like the Opéra Garnier, in Paris, where we would have mixed, with video montages, the rock and philharmonic sides, which is what my father always did, by telling this adventure lived together“, explained the son of Johnny Hallyday.
The war over Johnny Hallyday’s inheritance is a thing of the past for his eldest son
Ultimately, David Hallyday’s new album turned out to be very different. “It has nothing to do with it, because at that time I also listened to my old songs again. And I found that the production had aged badly, especially High (his first hit). So, I reworked the arrangements. Then, I wanted to do the same thing with Sang pour sang to give the album a more current, fresher note, as if I were making it today. In the end, I wanted to explore my father’s songs more widely“, underlined the son of Johnny Hallyday.
During this same interview David Hallyday was questioned about the war over Johnny Hallyday’s legacy. For the record, the singer’s son and his half-sister, Laura Smet, opposed Laeticia Hallyday on this subject. A long legal battle finally took place, before the two parties managed to reach an agreement.
David Hallyday: “There was a conflict where I helped my sister because there were things that were not correct”
“It’s been a long time. Fortunately. Otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to create. There was a conflict where I helped my sister because there were things that weren’t right“, stressed Johnny Hallyday’s eldest son. Also during the same interview, David Hallyday also spoke about his daily life between Paris and Portugal.
“I have a second home there and for eight years I have been building a huge and beautiful project there. A film studio. The largest in Europe. And the first in the world to be powered by renewable energy. In a country where the light is magnificent. There is no large studio capable of hosting major international productions. And there is a Portuguese cinema that deserves to be better known.“, concluded Johnny Hallyday’s son.
