Johnny Hallyday Net Worth | Celebrity Net Worth

What was Johnny Hallyday’s Net Worth?

At the time of his passing, Johnny Hallyday, the renowned French singer and actor, had a net worth estimated at $100 million. He is recognized for introducing rock and roll music to France in the early 1960s. Over nearly six decades, Hallyday released 79 albums and sold more than 110 million records, which secures his status as one of the best-selling artists globally. His acting credits include films like “À tout casser,” “The Specialists,” “Détective,” “L’homme du train,” and “Vengeance.”

Estate Dispute

Johnny Hallyday was married to his final wife, Laeticia, from 1996 until his death. After he passed, Laeticia presented a will that was filed in Los Angeles, which they reportedly viewed as their main residence. They held properties in Los Angeles and Gstaad, Switzerland, to circumvent France’s high taxation.

Another possible reason for filing the will in Los Angeles was the legal restriction in France that prevents individuals from excluding children from their wills. The will presented by Laeticia entirely disinherited Johnny’s adult children. Consequently, his children initiated a lawsuit, utilizing Johnny and Laeticia’s Instagram activity to argue that they had spent minimal time in the U.S. and had even stayed in France for eight continuous months. Their aim was to establish that they remained French residents, thus advocating for the validity of a previous will that included the children. Initially, the court sided with the children, but Laeticia pledged to appeal. Ultimately, the two parties reached a private settlement in mid-2020. As part of this agreement, Laeticia inherited the majority of Johnny’s estate, valued around $50 million, after settling $30 million in taxes and resolving matters with the family.

Early Life

Johnny Hallyday, born Jean-Philippe Smet on June 15, 1943, in Paris, France, was the son of French mother Huguette and Belgian father Léon. His father abandoned the family shortly after his birth, leading Hallyday to be raised primarily by his aunt Hélène. When he began his singing career, he adopted his stage name from his American cousin-in-law, Lemoine Ketcham, who was known as Lee Halliday.

Music Career

Motivated by Elvis Presley and other rock and roll stars of the 1950s, Hallyday started performing rock and roll in French. In 1960, he debuted with the single “T’aimer follement,” a French version of Floyd Robinson’s “Makin’ Love.” He soon followed with his first studio album, “Hello Johnny.” A year later, Hallyday produced a massive hit with his French cover of “Let’s Twist Again,” titled “Viens danser le twist,” which dominated nearly all European music charts. He continued the momentum in 1962 with the number-one single “Retiens la nuit.” His fame grew in the United States when he appeared with Connie Francis on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” filmed at the Moulin Rouge in Paris. Hallyday also held numerous performances at the Paris Olympia. As the 1960s drew to a close, he released a series of albums under the direction of musical directors Mick Jones and Tommy Brown and collaborated with illustrious French artists like Charles Aznavour and Michel Berger.

Throughout his nearly 60-year career, Hallyday produced 79 albums and sold over 110 million records internationally. He recorded approximately 1,154 songs, participated in over 500 duets with 187 different artists, and performed more than 3,250 live shows. Some of his most famous performances occurred at the Stade de France, where he once made a dramatic entrance by jumping from a helicopter. Another iconic concert took place in 2000 at the Eiffel Tower, attracting an audience of 500,000 and nearly 10 million viewers on live French television. Five years later, he achieved his first number-one single in years with “Mon plus beau Noël.” His album “Le Cœur d’un homme,” released in late 2007, saw major success in France and Belgium, followed by the 2008 hit “Ça ne finira jamais.” Hallyday maintained a streak of number-one albums up until 2015, with “Rester vivant tour,” a live album, being his last release during his lifetime. Several posthumous albums followed in the ensuing years.

Film Career

Hallyday’s first significant film role came in the 1962 anthology film “Tales of Paris.” The following year, he starred alongside his future wife Sylvie Vartan in “D’où viens-tu Johnny?” As the decade closed, he featured in films like “À tout casser” and “The Specialists.” During the 1970s, his filmography included titles like “Point de chute” and “L’aventure, c’est l’aventure.” In the 1980s, he appeared in Jean-Luc Godard’s “Détective,” the sci-fi movie “Terminus,” and the Vietnam War film “The Iron Triangle.”

In the 1990s, Hallyday acted in films like “La gamine” and “Why Not Me?” He continued his film appearances into the early 2000s with roles in “Love Me,” “L’homme du train,” “Crime Spree,” and “Crimson Rivers II: Angels of the Apocalypse.” He starred in “Quartier V.I.P.” in 2005 and portrayed a fictionalized version of himself in the 2006 film “Jean-Philippe.” Closing that decade, he had a supporting role in “The Pink Panther 2” and starred in “Vengeance.” In 2014, he took on a role in Claude Lelouch’s “Salaud, on t’aime,” and reunited with Lelouch for his final acting performance in the 2017 comedy “Everyone’s Life.”

Personal Life and Death

Throughout his life, Hallyday was married five times and had several relationships. His first marriage was with singer and actress Sylvie Vartan, lasting from 1965 until their divorce in 1980, during which they had a son named David. Next, he was briefly married to Babeth Étienne for 65 days. From 1982 to 1986, he was in a relationship with actress Nathalie Baye, with whom he had a daughter, Laura. He later dated Gisèle Galante and Leah. Hallyday’s third marriage was to Adeline Blondieau, first in 1990, then divorced in 1992, remarried in 1994, and divorced again in 1995. His final marriage was to Læticia Boudou from 1996 until his death, and they adopted two daughters from Vietnam, Jade and Joy.

In 2009, Hallyday was diagnosed with colon cancer and underwent successful surgery. Later that year, he had surgery to treat a herniated disc, which resulted in complications, leading to a medically-induced coma to address lesions formed from the procedure. Ultimately, on December 5, 2017, Hallyday passed away due to lung cancer and was laid to rest in Saint Barthélemy in the French Caribbean.