Many hundreds of thousands of fans, some moved to tears, attended Saturday in front of the Church of the Madeleine and the Champs Elysees, in the farewell to Johnny Hallyday.
From rock and motorcycles, “it is a tribute that suits him” hundreds of thousands of fans, some moved to tears, had gathered on Saturday in front of the Church of the Madeleine and the Champs Elysees to bid farewell to Johnny Hallyday, in the freezing cold.
“It’s beautiful, to his credit,” welcomes Fraboulet Anita, 52, came with family nearby Evreux (Eure). “We listened to him all our lives, to come here, it was the least we could do,” said his nephew Teddy, 29 years.
The singer was “the only one that brings together so many people, it is a communion” is moved as Sylvie, Paris 54 years.
“It makes him what he brought us. Johnny was the first record that we bought when we began to work”
“The music that I love,” “Gabrielle,” ” Requiem pour un fou” … Johnny Hallyday The musicians played, for nearly three quarters of an hour before the start of the ceremony, the songs of the singer resumed to a dense and excited crowd, under a big blue sky, in an atmosphere of concert.
Michael Sorrentino, 48, sings in the middle of admirers, some of them in tears. “He’s my idol, I learned to sing and play guitar by listening to his 33 lp’s when I was young,” he says.
On the Champs Elysees, the passage of the hearse, followed by hundreds of motorcyclists, is so fast that the fans behind the barriers barely have time to react. They applaud and cheer the many Harley-Davidson who roar their engines and honking.
Silence – on – moved gradually to the arrival of the funeral procession to the Madeleine, interrupted by “Johnny, Johnny! “And applause.
Laeticia Hallyday following the hearse on foot on the last meters, with her two daughters, Jade and Joy by her side. Admirers throw red roses on the vehicle.
“A historic moment”
The coffin is laid before the Church of the Madeleine, on which was displayed a black and white portrait of the singer.
When President Emmanuel Macron honors the rocker, no listening with one ear in some of fans gathered before the coffin is carried into the church by relatives of Johnny Hallyday.
“When I saw the coffin, I had chills, it was very emotional,” admits Amélie Zouker, a zouk singer 43 years.
Michel Hospice, 72, did not hesitate to drive all night with his wife to come to Nîmes in camper. “I had to be here,” he says, sitting on a fence. “I do not see, but I hear: I’m happy to be here. ”
“This is a historic moment, we must be here! “Approves Bertille Coffin, 25, came with her sister Elise, 27 years. They have known the singer by their parents and have never stopped listening.
“We can tell it to our children, because we will listen again”
Some fans had camped a part of the night for some to see the procession down the Champs Elysees from the Star. On the Place de la Concorde, the Ferris wheel is adorned with a portrait of rocker disappeared and displays the slogan “Johnny goodbye.”
In the Rue Royale, which leads to the Place de la Madeleine, Schouver Lucien, 53, wearing a cap siglé Johnny and a leather jacket customized with badges bearing the image of its star, is installed since Friday 11 p.m..
“We all thought invincible. I have not eaten for two days, that’s a ball, it does not pass”
Admirers leave gradually begins when the funeral ceremony, broadcast on screens placed in front of the church and on the streets leading to it, and whose sound is not always audible. Although they are still a lot who shed a few tears at the “Ave Maria.”
