France's Elvis dies at 74

Johnny Hallyday was one of the world's most successful rock stars, selling more than 110 million records

FILE - This Oct. 22 1962 shows French pop singer, Johnny Hallyday, leaps into the air whilst rehearsing at the Olympia Theater in Paris. The French president's office says Hallyday, who packed sports stadiums for decades, has died at age 74. (AP Photo/Jean Jacques Levy, File)

(FILES) This file photo taken on September 14, 1982 shows French singer Johnny Hallyday performing at the Palais des Sports in Paris during his show "galactique" France's best-known rock star Johnny Hallyday has died aged 74 after a battle with lung cancer, his wife Laeticia told AFP on December 6, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE BOUCHON

(FILES) In this file photo taken on February 1, 1969 French singer Johnny Hallyday (L) and then his wife singer Sylvie Vartan attend the preview of the film "Krakatoa, a l'est de Java" directed by Bernard Kowalski (not pictured) with Austrian actor Maximilian Schell (R) at a Parisian cinema. France's best-known rock star Johnny Hallyday has died aged 74 after a battle with lung cancer, his wife Laeticia told AFP on December 6, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / -

(FILES) In this file photo taken on April 29, 1969 French rock singer Johnny Hallyday performs on the stage of the Palais des Sports in Paris. France's best-known rock star Johnny Hallyday has died aged 74 after a battle with lung cancer, his wife Laeticia told AFP on December 6, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / DERRICK CEYRAC

(FILES) In this file photo taken on December 13, 1962 French singer Johnny Hallyday performs a concert at the Olympia hall in Paris. France's best-known rock star Johnny Hallyday has died aged 74 after a battle with lung cancer, his wife Laeticia told AFP on December 6, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / -

(FILES) A file photograph taken on March 17, 1967 in Paris, shows Sylvie Vartan (L) and Johnny Hallyday singing as they give a concert, the profits of which are to go to cancer research, at the Olympia venue. France's best-known rock star Johnny Hallyday has died aged 74 after a battle with lung cancer, his wife Laeticia told AFP on December 6, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / STR

(FILES) This file photo taken on April 2, 1985 shows French singers Eddy Mitchell (R) and Johnny Hallyday performing at the stadium om Bourges during the 9th edition of the Printemps de Bourges. France's best-known rock star Johnny Hallyday has died aged 74 after a battle with lung cancer, his wife Laeticia told AFP on December 6, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / Frank PERRY

epa06370483 (FILE) A file picture dated 17 May 2009 shows French musician and singer Johnny Hallyday at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France (reissued 06 December 2017). According to reports on 06 December 2017, French singer and actor Johnny Hallyday died at the age of 74. EPA/IAN LANGSDON *** Local Caption *** 01962685

epa06370485 (FILE) A file picture dated 17 May 2009 shows French singer Johnny Hallyday (L) with his wife Laetitia arriving for the premiere of 'Vengeance' during the 62nd annual Cannes film festival in Cannes, France (reissued 06 December 2017). According to reports on 06 December 2017, French singer and actor Johnny Hallyday died at the age of 74.

FILE - In this Sept.27 1971 file photo, French rock singer Johnny Hallyday performs at the Palais des Sports in Paris. The French president's office says Hallyday, who packed sports stadiums for decades, has died at age 74. (AP Photo/Cardenas, File)

epa06370488 (FILE) A file picture dated 08 March 2016 shows French singer Johnny Hallyday perfoming during a concert held at the Liceo Great Theatre in Barcelona, Spain (reissued 06 December 2017). According to reports on 06 December 2017, French singer and actor Johnny Hallyday died at the age of 74. EPA/ANDREU DALMAU

epa06370482 (FILE) A file picture dated 27 October 2006 shows French singer Johnny Hallyday performing on stage during a concert in Brussels, Belgium (reissued 06 December 2017). According to reports on 06 December 2017, French singer and actor Johnny Hallyday died at the age of 74. EPA/ERIC BOMAL BELGIUM OUT

(FILES) This file photo taken on June 11, 2003 shows French singer Johnny Hallyday performing at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris. France's best-known rock star Johnny Hallyday has died aged 74 after a battle with lung cancer, his wife Laeticia told AFP on December 6, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / FRANCOIS XAVIER MARIT

(FILES) This file photo taken in the 1960s shows French singer Johnny Hallyday posing his a car. France's best-known rock star Johnny Hallyday has died aged 74 after a battle with lung cancer, his wife Laeticia told AFP on December 6, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / -

“Le patron est mort.” That short sentence (meaning “the boss is dead”) will be repeated millions of times throughout France this week, following the death of Johnny Hallyday who today lost his battle with lung cancer at the age of 74.

Dubbed by many as the French Elvis Presley, Hallyday’s career span more than 50 years, during which he recorded in excess of 50 albums and sold more than 110 million records. Yet despite the colossal success he enjoyed in his own country and across Europe, that popularity never transcended to English-speaking parts of the world, leading USA Today to once dub him “the greatest rock star you never heard of”.

Born Jean-Philippe Smet in 1943, he took his stage name from Lee Hallyday, which was a pseudonym used by the husband of his aunt, with whom he spent most of his formative years. His singing career started in a Paris café but he soon switched style, performing American rock n' roll songs in French – something nobody else was doing. Laisse les filles was Hallyday's first hit in 1960 and, for the next 50 years, he enjoyed a stellar reputation for being a tireless live performer whose off-stage antics ensured he was never far from France's gossip columns.

Hallyday’s career also encompassed acting and he starred in 34 films between 1955 and 2017 but singing on stage was his natural home and he carried on doing that until retiring from live performances in 2009. His was a life lived to excess and he married four times, with one of those unions lasting just two months. He fathered a son and a daughter with different women and, with his fourth wife Laeticia Boudou, adopted two girls from Vietnam in 2004 and 2008.

In recent years Hallyday spent much of his time in the United States, where he enjoyed anonymity and riding his Harley-Davidson across California’s desert highways. He kept a second home in Los Angeles, announcing in 2014 that he was a US resident after failed attempts to gain Belgian citizenship and Swiss residency to avoid the high taxes imposed by France’s government – something that didn’t go down well with his fellow French folk.

Despite this blip Hallyday remains one of France’s most loved performers. His compatriots knew him simply as “Our Johnny” and his legacy will no doubt continue to impact French culture for decades to come.

“I write these words without believing them,” said his wife in a statement earlier today. “But yet, it’s true. My man is no longer with us.”