Louane sings Johnny Hallyday

The various artists tribute to Johnny Hallyday has emerged - just in time for Christmas - featuring a

number of younger artists taking on their versions of classics by Le Rocker National.

On a tous quelque chose de Johnny, released last week, includes contributions from Benjamin Biolay, Nolwenn Leroy and Garou, with 16 tracks, all of which are so well known in France that they have become of standards.

You'll hear then on TV talent shows, and they're regularly covered by other French artists, and it remains a source of bewilderment to many in France that the songs popularised by Johnny are not better known to the Anglophone music world.

Johnny is again fighting serious health problems, but remains indefatigable. 2017 saw a tour with les Vieilles Canailles, and he's recording a new album with Yodelice and Yarol Poupaud, the team behind his most recent studio collection De l'amour.

That 2015 album - his 50th studio album - was a number one seller in France, and went on to pick up the Best Chanson award at the Victoires de la musique 2016 ceremony.

There's also the prospect of a 2018 tour by Johnny on the horizon.

In the meantine, the new collection puts the focus on new interpretations of his work

Louane, who is currently the number one selling album artist in France, has a version of Toute la musique que j'ame. It's a very bluesy take of the song and while she might not have the power of Johnny's voice,  she makes it very much her version of the track.

Charlotte Cardin: Main Girl

Charlotte Cardin is a Canadian artist who has been making an in impression in France, particularly with the song Main Girl, the title track from her recent EP.

The Montreal-born former model appeared on The Voice in Canada in 2013 and made it to the finals. She went on to guest on Garou's Au milieu de ma vie album, duetting  on the song Du vent, des mots.

Last year she released her debut solo EP Big Boy, featuring lyrics in English as well as French.

Main Girl features on her six track EP of the same name that was released at the beginning of this month.

With a soulfulness that belies her youth, Charlotte Cardin has the kind of voice that we'll be hearing a lot more of in the months and years to come.

Garou: Du Vent, Des Mots.

A new single from Canadian singer Garou, with Du Vent, Des Mots.

It's the second track to be taken from his Au Milieu de ma Ve album that was released in November last year.

The song Avancer was released as the first single from the collection, an album of original songs that comes a year after Rhythm and Blues, an album of covers.

Garou is a high-profile music figure in France at the moment due to his appearance as a judge in The Voice, (The Voice: la plus belle voix as it's called in France) which began its third season in January.

The competition was won last year by one of Garou's contestants,  Yoann Frégel.

Garou established himself in France with the track Belle, released from the musical Notre Dame de Paris in 1997. Garou was one the the three singers on the song, taking the role of Quasimodo.

It was a number one, and remains one of the biggest selling singles in France and Belgium of all time.

His debut album Seul was released in 2000, the title track giving him another number one hit single.

He would go on to have number one hits with the song Sous le vent, a duet with Celine Dion  in 2001, and with La Rivière de notre enfance, a duet with Michel Sardou in 2004.

Du vent, des mots also features the voice of Canadian singer Charlotte Cardin, a veteran of the Canadian version of The Voice.

Yoann Frégel: The Voice (France) winner/

France's edition of The voice came to its conclusion at the weekend, with Yoann Frégel topping the vote of the second series of the TF1 programme, entitled The Voice, la plus belle voix in France.

He won ahead - just - of series favourite Olympe. Frégel had 28% of the vote, Olympe with 27.8% of the vote.

Frégel was coached by Garou, Olympe by Jenifer.

Frégel's performance of The Greatest Love of All by Whitney houston gave him the pick of the four coaches. The other two coaches, Florent Pagny and Louis Bertignac saw their two finalists reach 25% and 19.2% of the votes respectively.

The final saw Yoann Frégel sing Robbie Williams' Angels with the other finalists, a solo rendition of the Céline Dion song Dans un autre monde" and a duet with Zaz on the song Je Veux.

All the finalists duetted with Will.i.am, Frégel performing I gotta feeling

He also sang Michael Jackson's Earth Song, and duetted with his coach on a version of Amazing Grace.

Yoann Frégel is already well ahead in planning his debut album, with plans to have songs in both English and French.

Will.i.am has already said that he's produce Frégel's debut single and is expected to have Frégel opening at his concert at the Zénith in Paris on December 13.

Meanwhile, a third season of the Voice has been confirmed for French TV
in 2014

Garou: Le Jour Se Lève

A new release, Le Jour Se Lève, by Garou, the Quebec singer known to his parents as Pierre Garand.

Garou became known initially for his work with the Notre-Dame de Paris musical, getting a number one single in '98, but he went on to a massively successful solo career, his debut album Seul, which came out in 2000, selling over 1.5 million copies in France.

The title track was a number one hit and the album one of the biggest selling French language albums ever.

The single Sous le vent, a duet with Celine Dion gave him another number one in France, as did the song La Rivière de notre enfance, a duet with Michel Sardou.

His most recent release until this year was the album Version Intégrale, released in November 2010.

He plays in Paris on November 18 and his new album is released on September 24.