David Hallyday sings Johnny Hallyday

With the previously unreleased track Un Cri, the collection of later years' songs Made in Rock‘n’Roll, and a major exhibition opening in Paris later this month, Johnny Hallyday’s presence in French music remains a towering one despite his death six years ago today.

There’s not been an artist since who has come close to filling the space he occupied, and while posthumous releases, repackages and live recordings have fed the demand for new material, there’s not been any heir to his throne. Maybe now it’s time, and maybe the successor to Le Roi is the obvious one after all. Six years is, after all, a decent enough time for things to move on, for Johnny’s legacy to be celebrated and to continue.

David Hallyday's website makes the unambiguous claim: "Only one man can claim the legitimacy and talent to re-light the fire on stage and pit the name “Hallyday” back in the hearts of millions of fans."

Step forward the son of Johnny Hallyday and the equally legendary Sylvie Vartan, with a cover of one of his father’s best-loved songs and the confirmation of a major tour by Hallyday (Jr) next year, preceded by an album of covers of Hallyday (Sr)’s songs.

If there’s any question of whether or not David Halliday has the right to this kind of project, it’s worth remembering his involvement in Johnny’s 1999 Sang Pour Sang album, arguably one of Johnny’s finest later collections. David Halliday co-wrote every song on it, from some of Johnny’s best-know later works like the title track, Vivre Pour le Meilleur and Un Jour Viendra, as well as lesser-known classics like Quelques Cris. Johnny Hallyday’s discography can be an intimidating one that’s difficult to approach on account not only of its size but also of the occasional lapses in quality that often plagued his work, but Sang Pour Sang is beyond reproach.

David Hallyday has a long-established career as a singer stretching back to the mid-80s, his first album True Cool emerging in 1988. He’s sustained that career since, his most recent album Imagine Un Monde released in 2020. While there’s no denying that his heritage may have opened a few doors for him early in his career, his success has been largely on his own terms. Few other offspring of household-name musicians have enjoyed careers as long as David Hallyday has done.

Earlier this year he unveiled the song Le Plus Heureux des Hommes as a homage to his father, the song one he had originally written for his father to perform. The original plan was for this and other songs he had written for an abandoned follow-up to Sang Pour Sang to be included on David Hallyday’s next album, but the project subsequently evolved into an album of covers of well-known Johnny Hallyday numbers rather than ones that were left on the shelf.

The new version of Requiem Pour un Fou is lightly updated with a modern electronic flavour, but at its heart doesn’t stray far from the original. It’s made clear that David has a voice that, albeit very different from his father, can carry the song. No small task with one of Johnny’s best-known power ballads.

David Hallyday’s album, also titled Requiem Pour un Fouis expected sometime in 2024, and a tour will take place in November and December. A date in Paris at the Dôme de Paris - Palais des Sports is scheduled for November 12 2024. It’s a venue his father knew well, with numerous live albums recorded there over his career.

If there’s to be a new chapter in the Hallyday story to be written, David Hallyday is more qualified than anyone else to author it.