Just so you know, his real name was Jean-Philippe Smet.Johnny Hallyday: Death of an icon
The famous singer died this morning in his home at the age of 74. He suffered from lung cancer since several months.[...]The singer has sold more than 110 million albums and sung more than 1000 songs. He had 40 gold discs, 20 platinum discs and 5 diamond discs.
OK, let me elaborate a bit: Johnny has been dubbed "the biggest rock star you've never heard of" in the English world, and you have no idea how true this is. Today, France has gone crazy: the info channels will be stuck talking about his death all day-long, with no way of knowing what's going on elsewhere. Screw Trump recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, to Hell with the diplomatic visit of Macron in Algeria. It's Johnny Hallyday's passing day, and here we have a nation-wide mourning on the scale of what happened when Michael Jackson passed away. I am DEAD serious.
Hallyday's up there here in the rock Pantheon with the biggest names - actually, here in France in the 1960s, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, with whom he was friends, opened for him. Although little-known outside France, he was well-known among musicians: Lenny Kravitz published a tweet in tribute to Johnny's death:
"Farewell Dear @JohnnySjh. Your friendship, sweetness and support are imprinted in my heart. It is an honor to have known you and to have spent time with you and your beautiful family. Your soul is pure Rock and Roll. Repose en paix."
Several French personalities have said that his death was like if Paris lost one of its monuments.
Now, am I a fan? Definitely not. I'm more pragmatical and in my opinion his discography has been highly inconsistent. Back in his early days (he was instantly famous) his work was a mix of rock'n'roll, blues and yéyé (almost always adapted from foreign hits) and he recorded enormously, so it's difficult to pinpoint great albums. Critics and fans alike consider the late 60s-early 70s to be his best period. Afterwards, in the 70s, his music devolved into post-yéyé variété with only shards of rock music left (and his rockers were often inferior to what he published before) and aside from a mid-1980s flirt with pop which has some acknowledgement from music critics, in my opinion his artistry never really recovered. Johnny was most famous for his live tours, which always featured sold-out venues in entire stadiums, and of which a LOT of live albums have been published. Johnny was a huge showman, and his musicians were usually top-notch.
The studio album that is usually recommended as an introduction to Johnny Hallyday is the 1969 album Rivière... ouvre ton lit (or self-titled) which notably featured Mick Jones and several members of the Small Faces and Humble Pie, including Peter Frampton.
Some key recordings:
Laisse les filles (1960)