The letter published by Laeticia Hallyday still resonates in the minds of those closest to and fans of Johnny Hallyday. At 74, the much adored rocker, music legend, lover of guitars and America, died on December 5, 2017 in the huge house in Marnes-la-Coquette where he lived so many moments with the his. Among these relatives, Laeticia, his widow, devastated at the thought of having lost his rock, his life, the father of his two daughters, Jade and Joy, who took care of him and surrounded him with love until ‘at the end. They weren’t alone either. In the pages of Paris MatchFati, the housekeeper, Jimmy, the security guard and Karl, the driver, also accompanied him.
Seeing the one who had trusted them so much losing his battle with cancer was heartbreaking. But each testimony carries a message: Johnny fought. “He was weak but hanging on, says Carl. I even went to get him a pair of crutches and a bicycle which is still in the cinema because he said he had to get back on stage. He never gave up and we weren’t going to tell him that it was all for nothing.”
The trio, Johnny Hallyday considered him his own family. Even at worst, the interpreter of That I love you had only one goal: to make them happy. So when Fati, the governess, worries about not seeing him eat anymore, the singer forces himself, despite his lack of appetite due to illness. On the day of her death, before returning home after her day’s work, her final physical contact with him tastes like farewell: “That time he shook my right hand real tightshe explains. He had never done it before. So I said, ‘You know, you’re in my heart.’ He replied ‘I know, Fati. I say. See you tomorrow’.” The last time Jimmy, a bodyguard, sees Johnny alive, he does not think about the reunion the next day: “He only said one thing, ‘Watch out for the girls, my wife.’ I felt his gaze on me until I disappeared.“
The last hours, Karl spent them next to his boss, hand in hand: “It was my place.“He also watched over Johnny Hallyday until his departure from the funeral home:”Even after her death, I slept there, next to Monsieur, the night of the 5th, then that of the 6th and on Thursday when I took her to the funeral home. I watched him at night, I didn’t want to leave him, that was when he needed me the most.“Now they only have the memories, indelible, and the objects so dear to the heart of the rocker, soon to be relics for Johnny Hallyday: the exhibition, the starting point of which will be Belgium.