By Jérôme Goulon.
Eight years ago, on December 5, 2017, Johnny Hallyday was leaving us. On this occasion, Interviews lets you (re)discover a cult interview that the rocker gave to Thierry Ardisson in 1983, which the presenter later published exclusively in InterviewsShortly after founding the magazine, the singer revealed himself like never before, without any filters. With Thierry Ardisson's passing this year, joining Johnny Hallyday, this incredible interview takes on a whole new dimension. An interview like no other, to be savored without moderation…
Thierry Ardisson: Hi. What's your real name?
Johnny Hallyday: Jean-Philippe Smet. It's the most common name in Belgium. His father was Belgian, editor's note. )
Johnny, where does that come from?
Lee Hallyday, my adoptive father, couldn't pronounce my first name. That's how I became "Johnny." And when I started singing, I kept his name.
Do you have a green card to work in France?
I am French. I pay my taxes in France! I had dual nationality until I was 19. During my military service, I had to choose.
Date of birth ?
June 15, 1943, in a clinic, rue Clauzel.
"I have the same problem as Eddy Mitchell: when I want to lose weight, I stop drinking..."
Size ?
I'm 1,85 meters tall and weigh 73 kilos. But my weight can fluctuate between 67 kg and 80 kg. I have the same problem as Eddy Mitchell: when I want to lose weight, I stop drinking… You know that a glass of whisky is equivalent to a steak… So, when you drink, say, a bottle a day, it's like eating 20 steaks!
Out of 32 teeth, how many do you have left today?
Fifteen originally. Five or six of them died in a motorcycle accident, and the rest in the car accident with Sylvie.
And is your hair color your real one?
Now this is the real thing. But for 15 years, I bleached my hair.
The eyes?
I have beautiful blue eyes.
Apart from your 17 porcelain teeth, what other distinguishing features do you have?
Five scars!
We're listening…
One day, I was 12 years old, in Lee's Traction Avant. You know, back then, the doors opened the other way, and mine wasn't properly closed. At 100 kilometers an hour, the wind rushed in, I was swept away, and I rolled over the gravel. The scar on my back is from a fight I got into when I was 14, some stupid thing, a knife cut from a guy from Sacré-Cœur, a girl thing. On my right hand, it's from an ice skating accident with Long Chris in 1959! On my left foot, it's a burn; it's from when I fell off my motorcycle at 160 km/h: my foot got caught on the exhaust pipe. The fifth scar is on my hip: 25 centimeters, 37 stitches. A real axe wound!
Was that when you thought you were Mad Max at the Palais des Sports?
I forgot a movement and the axe hit me in the hip. It wasn't sharp and it only took off a small piece of my femur.
You won't have any problems with the facelift…
I'll never get my skin lifted! No implants either: the guy who looks after Sardou, Jacques Revaux, his implants look like pubic hair on his head!
There's one person who hasn't worried about you, and that's your father…
I was two months old when he went downstairs to buy butter and pulled the match trick. He never came back!
What did he live on?
He was presenting a show on Belgian TV. Since he always showed up drunk, they ended up firing him. He went even further into alcoholism. I hear from my father every time he needs money. The last time, it was a postcard from Singapore.
"My mother was a model, and since she didn't have time to take care of me, she entrusted me to my aunt."
Thank God, you had your mother…
My mother was a model, and since she didn't have time to take care of me, she entrusted me to my aunt: so I only saw my mother seven or eight times until I was 16!
Do you have any brothers?
Two half-brothers.
What kind of jobs do they have?
I'm a little ashamed… Uh… Tax inspectors… Both of them.
They couldn't do anything for you?
You always end up paying taxes.
And what about school?
I'm 40 years old, and I've been touring for 38 years! When I was little, I took correspondence courses from the School for Artists. But at that time, I mainly learned to read music, write music, and play the guitar. When I was 14, we came to Paris, and that's where I dropped out of school… I didn't even have my school-leaving certificate. It was the era of Seed of Violence.
Which gang of leather jackets did you belong to?
At the Trinity gang. There was Jacques Dutronc, Hadi Kalafat, Françoise Hardy… We tried to play tough guys.
Tell me the truth, was Jacques Dutronc already flirting with Françoise?
He was too shy! On the other hand, I would have liked to, but she didn't want to.
And when did you meet Eddy Mitchell?
At the Golf Drouot, like Long Chris. Back then, Eddy and I were in different groups. One day he caught me stealing Bill Haley records at a party. He punched me in the face.
Is it at Golf Drouot that you started?
No, it's at L'Orée du Bois: I was singing David Crockett with Ohio shoes and red suede pumps.
Were you a fighter?
When someone messes with me, since I don't like getting hit in the face, I hit first.
"I smoke three packs of unfiltered Gitanes a day. My record is four!"
Cigarettes aren't good for you either…
Especially since I smoke three packs of unfiltered Gitanes a day. My record is four! Now I'm trying to get back down to one and a half.
You never had the courage to stop?
Yes, I did stop once. After two months, I realized my voice had changed, and since I had to record The good old days of rock'n'rollI've gone back to that...
Do you smoke hashish?
I smoked for four or five years. I stopped: I was eating too much.
You should have taken coke, it suppresses your appetite!
It was my voice that was being cut off. I still took it for three or four years.
LSD?
Never. I saw Vince Taylor, who never came back down to earth, it helped me stay grounded… Like with heroin: I was really close friends with Jimi Hendrix and I saw his decline little by little… I never tried it, not even a sniff to see…
Back when you were drinking, how long could you last?
A bottle of scotch. Without being drunk. On the other hand, if I drink three or four whiskies, plus the wine with dinner and, say, two or three vodkas, then I'm completely wasted. Mixing drinks knocks me out. Right now, I'm not drinking, I'm drinking wine.
"I used to go to catechism classes, until the day the priest in my neighborhood grabbed my ass."
How many drinks does it take for you to see God?
I was baptized, but on the day of my first communion, I was on tour. I went to catechism, until the day the priest in my neighborhood grabbed my ass.
Are you implying that this priest had disturbing desires towards you?
I don't know about me personally, but definitely about me!
Tell us the true story of Johnny and Sylvie…
I was 17, I was in love with her, and then life happened and by the time I was 18, things weren't working out anymore. We probably got married too young.
And today, don't you miss your son?
I see him from time to time. Sylvie is a good mother. It's only right that she has custody. I also left her a 500-brick house.
And what about your marriage to Babeth?
That was only valid in the state of California and it lasted two months.
Were you drunk?
I don't know, I wanted to settle down, have a child. Anyway, she couldn't have any.
It's not like Nathalie Baye, you'll have to marry her…
We want to live as if we were married, but we don't want to get married.
"What I like is flirting, and it has to be difficult."
Which of the three do you find the prettiest?
That's a stupid question. What I like is flirting, and it has to be difficult. With Nathalie, it took a month and a half, that's how I stuck with her.
And what if we talked about your money problems…
I had to pay all my back taxes, plus a 50% penalty. As a result, I owe my record label 500 million. I'm an employee at Phonogram.
How much do you need per month?
I need six bricks. Two for the mortgage payments, two for Sylvie's pension, a little money for my father and a little for myself.
How much have you spent since you started earning money?
I must have spent at least four or five billion ( the equivalent of 10 million euros today, editor's note. You know, it goes by so fast…
