“Grief lives within us”writes David Hallyday in Best albumhis autobiographical work, unveiled on November 23. In the pages of his book, the son of Johnny Hallyday returns in particular to the death of his father and the way he managed to heal his grief. “I don’t want to share this pain with anyonehe explains in his book. What I feel is a precious commodity that I would ultimately only like to talk about with him..” Also, to grieve, Sylvie Vartan’s son has his own method: he reflects on the moments he spent in privacy, one on one with his father.
“When I think of my father, I seek as a priority to safeguard, to protectin the safest compartments of my memory, these moments shared with him, exclusively with him.” It is in these moments that David Hallyday remembers moments of simplicity spent with his father. In his book, Alexandra Pastor’s husband mentions in particular cinema evenings, during which he watched classics of the horror genre, Halloween at the Exorcist Passing by Scream, not forgetting the popcorn and pizzas shared between father and son. These memories have always brought him a dose of comfort and allowed him to distinguish between Johnny Hallyday, the rock star, and Jean-Philippe Smet, his dad.
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“I could have grieved more easily”
A little further in the pages of Best album, David Hallyday confides that his mourning was complicated by his father’s fame. The public ceremonies, the images of the singer and the incessant reminders of his person prevented Alexandra Pastor’s husband from being able to completely turn the page. “If my father was not such a famous artist, I would have been able to grieve more easily.writes the son of Sylvie Vartan. But my father was Johnny Hallyday, and who in France doesn’t know Johnny Hallyday? It therefore seemed inevitable that his death would take the form of a long public mass..” David Hallyday then dealt with the expectations of the French regarding his father’s funeral, knowing well that, in his head, he found himself alone with Johnny Hallyday every time his memory came to mind.
Article written in collaboration with 6médias
Photo credits: VEEREN / BESTIMAGE