Personal life

Johnny Hallyday was born Jean-Philippe Smet in Cit? Malesherbes, Paris, France, to a French mother, Huguette (1919-2007), and a Belgian father, Leon Smet. His parents separated not long after his birth, and he was raised by his paternal aunt, H?l?ne Mar. (His pseudonym was borrowed from his cousin's friend, Lee Halliday; it turned into Hallyday when it was misprinted on a record label.)

He was married on April 12, 1965 to Sylvie Vartan (French singer) in Loconville. They have a son, David Hallyday (who is also a singer), born David Michael Benjamin Smet on August 14, 1966. Johnny was seen as a less than caring father, as his career had taken control of his life; his focus was on his career and his next song rather than on his family.[citation needed] Although Johnny Hallyday and Sylvie Vartan were France's Golden Couple of their generation, they divorced on November 4, 1980.

A year later, he married a model named Babeth Etienne on December 1, 1981 in Los Angeles; the marriage lasted two months and two days.

Hallyday's love affair with the French actress Nathalie Baye began in 1982, after they met on a television programme. Nathalie gave birth to their daughter, Laura, at the end of 1983. They separated in 1986.

He married Adeline Blondiau in 1990. They divorced in 1992.

In 1996, he married Laetitia Boudou. In 2004, the couple adopted a Vietnamese baby girl, called Jade.

In 2006, Hallyday applied for Belgian nationality mostly for tax reasons but the Belgian Government suspended its decision. In 2007 he moved to Gstaad (Switzerland) where he benefits from lower swiss taxes. He canceled on October 22, 2007 his request to change citizenship. Johnny is mostly conservative politically and endorsed the candidacy of his good friend the French President Nicolas Sarkozy.