He also has intellectual pretensions, using the novelist Francoise Sagan as a songwriter and calling one of his records Hamlet Hallyday. This schizophrenic combination has earned him an army of fans, led by President Jacques Chirac and members of the Legion d'Honneur. Over the years his life has provided the French media with an endless source of material. The celebrity magazine Gala recently handed him the editorial reins for one issue. Slavishly listing his preferences in food, clothes and friends, it also carried an interview in which he confided he had found it difficult to sustain relationships for more than three years - the point at which passion gave way to love.
Tenderness is wonderful.
Johnny, as he is universally known, is not modest about his contribution to rock music. There's only me and Mick Jagger left. This assessment seems to be shared by many in France. In a recent poll two-thirds of the population found him likeable, a great artist and true rocker.