Johnny Hallyday was born Jean-Philippe Smet in Cite Malesherbes, Paris, France, to Huguette and Leon Smet. His parents separated not long after his birth, so he was raised by his paternal aunt, Helene Mar. Johnny, as he is popularly known, became famous in the 1960s from singing rock’n’roll in French. He released his first album ‘Hello Johnny’ in 1960. Since then, he has had a 40-year career in the music industry and is one of France’s biggest stars. He has sold 80 million records, made 400 tours, had 18 platinum albums and performed in front of 15 million people.