In Brussels, the Johnny Hallyday exhibition enters the intimacy of "the idol of young people"

From his beginnings on the show "Salut les buddies" to his dreams of cinema, passing through his love for motorcycles and the United States, the exhibition enters into the intimacy of the artist, with exact reconstructions of his teenage bedroom in Clichy and his office in his villa in Marnes-la-Coquette.

Imagined in the shape of a guitar in which visitors stroll, the visit is made to the rhythm of the greatest hits of the French singer and to the sound of the voice of Jean Reno, a close friend of the singer.

"Johnny was and remains a legend", explains Laeticia Hallyday, co-producer of the exhibition, who took over the Johnny "business" with the help of Jean-Claude Camus, the singer's ex-producer.

"There is no man since Victor Hugo who brings together the crowds so much," she says.

Her arrival at the exhibition shows the extent of the Johnny phenomenon: escorted by dozens of bikers in jackets bearing the image of their idol, Laeticia got out of her car under the roar of Harley Davidsons.

For the exhibition, the singer's widow lent a dozen stage costumes that had been worn by her 22-year-old companion: sequined flared pants, leather or fringed jackets, golden or lightning-embroidered shirts.

Johnny had "a disproportionate ambition for the public", explains the widow of the singer.

- "You're getting out of it" -

All his life, Johnny Hallyday seems to have applied to the letter this advice from Maurice Chevalier who opens the exhibition: "Little one, you take care of your entrance and your exit from the stage and, between the two, you get by".

Laeticia Hallyday, widow of Johnny Hallyday, speaks at a press conference in Brussels on December 19, 2022 © Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD / AFP

Archive images show him taking a walkabout in 1993 at the Parc des Princes, or descending from a helicopter at the Stade de France in 1998.

Adored by the crowds, the one who gathered several hundred thousand people in the street during his funeral has put his whole life on stage.

Being Johnny Hallyday "is a job", confided the artist to Télérama in 2014.

The exhibition also focuses on the loneliness and fragility of man, addicted to alcohol and cigarettes.

Photos show him sweating, his hair dishevelled, exhausted after concerts.

The singer died of lung cancer in December 2017. It was just days after his last concert in Brussels.

For Laeticia Hallyday, the choice of Belgium to start the exhibition is first and foremost a tribute to the "roots that he always sought to fill after his father's abandonment".

The traveling exhibition will then set sail for Paris in January 2024, then probably Switzerland and Canada.

© 2022 AFP