Between rocker Johnny Hallyday and the United States, it has always been a great love story. It is not for nothing that the interpreter of Light the fire had decided to put down his suitcases and settle for many years in the country of Uncle Sam. Passionate about the country and its lifestyle, the owner had decided to give a concert in Las Vegas. A “dream” for him, as his widow had explained in his documentary Johnny by Laeticia, broadcast this Thursday, December 8 on M6.
“For years, Johnny had dreamed of coming to the United States to give a concert there, if only for one. He had chosen Las Vegas”, declares Laeticia Hallyday in her documentary and the manager of the innkeeper Jean-Claude Camus to explain: “It was Johnny who had the dream of being a singer in the United States and I was content to be the travel agency. It was I who took more than 5000 people, the planes, the charters, hotels… With a credit house that gave credit for many over 2 years to pay for their stay. The trip was a great success, the show was not,” he said.
Why did this show so dreamed of by the rocker flop with his fans? The artist’s manager explained the reasons for this failure. “One, people had not understood that they would see a concert and not a show as always. Two, these were not the songs they expected”. In short, a concert oriented to many songs from the American repertoire. If the artist, however, made a good figure, “he realized that it did not work. Some were sleeping in the room”, explained his manager. At the end of his concert, some fans had not hidden their anger. “It’s not Johnny (…) Johnny, we waited for him at the end”.
A disappointment, even a drama all the greater, as explained by Laeticia Hallyday in this documentary. “The disappointment of the fans at not having seen a concert they were expecting. I really saw my husband cry after the failure of Vegas. He’s hit rock bottom, he thought it was over, that he was has-been, that his career was over, that people would no longer look at him the same way (…) He suffered a lot from it”.