Credits: Bryan Chan (from Toronto, Canada) / Flickr user Sasoriza / Wikimedia Commons — CC BY-SA 2.0.
Johnny Hallyday, the legendary French rocker, continues to move his fans, even six years after his death. His musical and cultural legacy is showcased through an exhibition that began in Brussels and is now coming to Paris.
L’exposition, created in close collaboration with Laeticia Hallyday and the Belgian agency Tempora, specialized in exhibitions, required a substantial budget of 8.5 million euros. Its opening in Brussels attracted about 50,000 visitors in three months, a figure below the 150,000 expected.
The next stop of this exhibition in Paris is scheduled to begin on Friday, December 22 at Paris Expo, Porte de Versailles, and will run until June 19. The opening coincides with the holiday season, which also marks the anniversary of Johnny Hallyday’s death on December 5, 2017.
Organizers hope the exhibition will be better received in France, Johnny Hallyday’s homeland, where his popularity has never waned. The recent success of his album Made in Rock’n’Roll, as well as another compilation of his songs in symphonic versions, attests to the continuing enthusiasm for the singer’s work.
The exhibition presents various aspects of Johnny’s life and career, including reconstructions of important places, such as his teenage bedroom and his office at the villa in Marnes-la-Coquette. Archival images and the musician’s personal items are on display, all accompanied by commentary from actor Jean Reno, a close friend of Johnny.
The mixed success of the exhibition in Brussels, with an average daily attendance of 440 visitors, casts doubt on its reception in Paris. Organizers are banking on a more receptive Parisian audience, hoping to reach a total of 400,000 visitors over a year.