At 92, Hugues Aufray is one of the most popular French singers. Made famous in 1961 for his hit Santiano, the artist continues to delight his admirers with his folk melodies. In 2020, he was still certified “Disque d’or” with his album “Autoportrait’. “Singing is not a job, it’s happiness, it’s a pleasure. Tours are fun. And when you’ve played all your life, you don’t have the right to rest“, he explained. For the show “Mirror mirror” broadcast on Melody TV, the musician agreed to look back on his long career.
The nonagenarian singer notably evoked a mythical image of the yé-yé years. Hugues Aufray is indeed one of those who posed in 1966 for Jean-Marie Périer. The future companion of Julie Andrieu then takes what is still called today “the photo of the century”. He immortalizes the faces of the biggest stars of the sixties. A shot where we find Michel Berger, Sheila, France Gall, Eddy Mitchell, Claude François, Salvatore Adamo, Françoise Hardy, Dick Rivers, Dick Rivers, Chantal Goya or even Johnny Hallyday. Hugues Aufray also makes astonishing confidences about the latter.
Hugues Aufray swings on Johnny Hallyday and Hi friends
“He was very jealous of me at the start. remembers the interpreter of “Santiano”, who had already mentioned their meeting in 1960 in Juan-les-Pins: “During his rehearsal, he had broken a guitar string, I had gone to my room to give him one. It had sealed the beginning of a friendship, not easy, because Johnny is very jealous of me. It’s unbelievable, but that’s how it is“. Hugues Aufray also takes the opportunity to make things clear about his relationship with the other stars present in the photo. “When I entered “Hi friends”, I was the oldest of all the friends. I was 10 years older than them, the average was around 20! I started very late: at the age of 20, I had no intention of being a singer at all. They weren’t really friends“, he explains.
Thibaud Cruz