Johnny Hallyday News

He drove his young fans wild, attracting 1,00,000 to a Paris square in 1963 and prompting scenes of hysteria until then unseen in a conservative France led by the stiff General Charles de Gaulle. Former president Nicolas Sarkozy, an adoring fan who once tried to tempt him back from tax exile in Switzerland, said he represented "part of our personal history... Our memories and emotions." Known simply as Johnny, Hallyday sold more than 100 million albums and headlined 50 major tours. The last year this summer, he teamed up with veteran French rockers for the 'Old Scoundrels' tour.