At 80, Sylvie Vartan is preparing to bow out as a stage artist. Guest at Nagui's microphone on the show The original soundtrack on France Inter, the French singer confided her reasons: “It’s not a question of desire”she first clarified. “I feel like I've been to all the shows.”confided the interpreter of Love is like a cigarette.
A decision of the heart: farewell to the big scenes by Sylvie Vartan
David Hallyday's mother, however, recognizes that her age and the energy necessary to perform concerts weighed in the balance: “I don't have the same energy because I was always moving.“she added.
Its last performances will take place on January 24, 25 and 26, 2025 at the Palais des Congrès in Paris, a fitting conclusion to a phenomenal stage career. Despite this retirement from the big stages, Sylvie Vartan does not plan to completely cut off from music: “I will continue to make albums, even if it's not what I prefer“she confided. The latter also does not rule out the possibility of giving private concerts for loved ones.
A “volcanic” love with Johnny Hallyday
Sylvie Vartan will remain in the hearts of the French as Johnny Hallyday's first great love story. Married in 1965 after meeting in 1961, their union lasted until 1981. A romance marked by the Roaring Twenties, where the two artists lived at a frenetic pace.
Guest of the show Daily Last January, Cameron Hallyday's grandmother described their relationship in powerful terms: “We didn't have the opportunity to be alone. We had photographers. Then it was our life. We didn't think we'd see it any other way. It was volcanic. Everything was going so fast. At the speed of light.”she declared. A confession which testifies to the intensity of their relationship, but also to the pressures linked to their status as a star couple. However, this passionate relationship was not easy. Between a serious car accident, Johnny's repeated infidelities and media pressure, Sylvie Vartan had to show resilience to preserve a semblance of normality.
This persistent rumor denied
The extravagant stories around Johnny Hallyday are numerous, but one of them particularly got people talking. In 2015, columnist Philippe Vandel told a disturbing anecdote in the show TPMP. According to him, the rocker, after a drunken evening, returned home accompanied by two women, whom he brought back to the marital bed where Sylvie Vartan was sleeping.
Asked about this episode by Liberation in 2018, Sylvie Vartan refuted this rumor. The singer nevertheless admitted that fans or admirers had sometimes managed to penetrate their private space: “We found girls in our bed when we returned to the hotel.“she revealed. As for the Philippe Vandel anecdote, it belongs to the register of urban legends, according to Sylvie:
“That the heartthrob one day overthrew a conquest on the marital bed, skipping his sleeping young wife, would be the stuff of legend”specified the journalist in charge of the article for
Liberation.
Sylvie Vartan and Johnny Hallyday: a legendary couple engraved in memories
Sylvie Vartan and Johnny Hallyday embody a time when
glamor and scandal went hand in hand. If their history was marked by turbulence, it remains emblematic of the 1960s and 1970s, a whirlwind of celebrity and heightened passions.
Today, at the dawn of a new phase in her life, Sylvie Vartan seems to look back with serenity. A youth “solar“, as she described it, where the intensity of the moments experienced seems to surpass the wounds of the past. For fans, the myth of this unforgettable couple remains more alive than ever.
