When Johnny Hallyday announced that he had cancer, the rock star’s fans and loved ones were far from imagining the worst. The much-feared outcome arrived on December 5, 2017. It was with poignant words that Laeticia Hallyday, the mother of his daughters Jade and Joy, announced the death of her husband, her pillar, the one she will never forget.
On December 9, four days after the Death of Johnny Hallydaya national tribute was paid to the idol of young people in the grounds of the Madeleine church in the heart of Paris. It was on this occasion that the rocker’s children, namely Laura Smet, David Hallyday, Jade and Joy were gathered together as rarely. Another notable presence: that of Nathalie Baye and Sylvie Vartan, mother of the two eldest.
Much water had flowed under the bridge since their separation from Johnny, which is why Sylvie Vartan and Nathalie Baye had insisted on being there to pay their last respects to the singer and the father of their children. Despite everything, the pain was palpable and the ordeal particularly difficult. Sylvie Vartan would not say otherwise, she who almost felt unwell as I left the church.
Sylvie Vartan on the verge of fainting after leaving La Madeleine
As noted by the composer Jean-Jacques Debout, husband of Chantal Goya with whom he rooms apart, present on this sad day of December 9, 2017, Sylvie Vartan was not in the best of form. “At the end of her farewell mass, Sylvie asked me to hold her arm to leave the Madeleine, as she was so afraid of fainting.” he said during the interview given to France Sundayreleased on June 28. Present for Sylvie Vartan, Jean-Jacques Debout also had to deal with his own grief.
Jean-Jacques Debout and Johnny Hallyday have forged a true friendship over the years. Chantal Goya’s husband took a long time to accept the rocker’s death. It was only by going into exile in Indre, where he grew up and where he now has a house, that Jean-Jacques Debout managed to accept his departure. On D-Day, Jean-Jacques Debout was in the grip of despair: “As we descended the steps of the church, I saw the book of our meeting close, of our beginnings, of our youth, of beautiful years. I saw the word end written, which was a terrible blow to me, it devastated me.“
