Excluded. David Hallyday confides in his mourning, six years after the death of Johnny Hallyday

In 1999, David Hallyday and Johnny Hallyday collaborate on the title Blood for Blood and the self-titled album. The title, strong, returns to the not always simple relationship between the two men. Born from the love of Taulier and Sylvie Vartan in 1966, David Hallyday is the eldest son of Johnny Hallyday. Like his father, he chose to get into music. Tuesday March 14, 2023, he agreed to confide in Tele-Leisurea few months before the release of his new album, scheduled for June 16, 2023. For his fifteenth opus, the artist returns with remastered songs but also with two unreleased tracks. “I took old titles that I made for myself and for others. I completely re-sung them, reproduced, rearranged them. It was complicated on certain titles which date a little to keep the emotion of before to make something new out of it”, he tells us. Among the novelties, the song The Happiest of Menavailable March 24was originally written for his father.

A national tribute that was not unanimous

The memory of Johnny Hallyday continues to hover over French music. Following lung cancer, the singer died at his home on December 5, 2017. A huge tribute was then paid to the artist in Paris, with his relatives, as well as icons of the world of music and figures of political life. In the show seven to eight of Sunday November 18, 2018, David Hallyday had declared on this subject: “I think the national tribute is for my father, and it’s not a parade“. He had refused to be part of the procession and had chosen to wait in front of the Madeleine church to attend the ceremony. During this same interview, he will also reveal that he was never consulted about the organization of his father’s funeral, who was later buried in the cemetery of the Lorient Church of Saint-Barthélemy, on 11 December. He therefore could not choose how and under what conditions he would have liked to say goodbye to her.

David Hallyday: “We are moving forward but we do not forget”

However, the eldest of the French Elvis keeps in him a wound. Almost six years after the death of his father, he opens up about his mourning. “It’s like any human being who has lost someone dear and loved. I’m no different from you”he confided to Tele-Leisure. “When you loved your parents, it’s always difficult to spend your life rebuilding”, he adds. But the singer, who is preparing to go back on stage for a two-year tour, is doing better. “I’m moving forward in my life, I have my children, I have a grandson today (Ilona Smet had a son, editor’s note)my family is growing and that’s great”. But, like any human being, he sometimes recognizes empty passages and preserves the memory of his late father.“When we mourn, I think we are moving forward, but we don’t forget. We never forget the people we loved. There are times when it makes me sad, when I see things that make me sad. Then there are times when it’s okay. I think that’s the human journey.”he concludes.