Yeah, I never heard of him, either, but the guy sold over 100 million records in his lifetime and made 30 movies. One outdoor concert had 500,000 people show up, with a TV audience of over 9 million viewers. He was still selling albums as recently as 2015, when he released his 50th studio album. Pretty impressive for someone whose fame never really went worldwide.
How can he be the French Elvis if he’s dead? Elvis isn’t dead. 
We had to read about him, along with Mireille Mathieu, in my 9th/10th grade French class. But I’ve never actually heard any of their music.
Out of morbid curiosity, I came here a couple of times today to see whether someone would start a thread about “the greatest rock star you’ve never heard of”. The Dope doesn’t disappoint, as usual :D.
Let me tell you something. I’ve heard of him. And from him. And about him. Almost continuously for the 43 years I’ve been around. In the French-speaking world, the guy was just unescapable.
He was a polarizing figure. He was literally adored by his millions of faithful fans, who would happily dish out hundreds of Euros to attend one of his vanity concerts in Las Vegas (number of Americans in the crowd : 0, probably).
To others, he was a derivative has-been with a good dose of cringe-worthy grandiosity. And probably a bit thick, too. Guess which side I’m on.
Now to be honest, calling him the “French Elvis” is misleading. It only describes him until the late 70s. After that, he turned to a heavier, hard-rocking sound (a Gallic, less theatrical Ozzy Osborne, if you will), with the occasional “tough guy with a big heart” ballad thrown in. Still ridiculous.
There are however two things that I’ll mention in his favour. First, he had an iron-clad work ethic and genuine respect for his fans. It explains his longevity.
Then, even someone like me, who’s not a fan by any stretch of the imagination, has at least one song to look back on with nostalgia. It’s a cheesy song. I don’t like it at all. It drives me nuts. And yet, as soon as I hear it, I’m transported back to my earliest childhood memories of holidays in France.
Love him or hate him, he was a cultural phenomenon.
My one and only exposure - the film Crime Spree, which apparently had the stunt casting of adding a second French music star. To be honest it’s a kinda weird film tonally.
I saw him in the Godard film *Detective *(late eighties? Can’t remember). It wasn’t that memorable, and neither was he. On the other hand, Nathalie Baye… just wow. I’m pretty sure she was the reason I went to see the movie.
I detest pop music; so in the main, had marginally heard the guy’s name, and registered total disinterest. A tiny bit more than that, hence this post: a few years ago, in the film theatre of a 20th-century-history-focused venue, I happened to see a short “period” news film about M. Hallyday during his early-1960s obligatory period of military service. Showed “mail call in the barracks” – Johnny getting whole sacks of fan-mail, while his comrades-in-arms received just a beggarly few letters from family and friends; and his encouraging (?) his colleagues in their endeavours, by singing / playing to them, “Michael Row The Boat Ashore”; and his getting married while on leave from his spell in the army.
While I have no use for the man’s output: it seems as per Les Espaces’s post, that he was a decent guy; and with a 74-years lifespan, he had not too bad a run.