The rock icon gets a place and a statue in Paris

When Johnny Hallyday died four years ago, French stations were only talking about him for a day. Now the Paris rock legend has a place named after him and a statue. About 150 motorcyclists attended the opening on Tuesday. “Johnny would be very proud,” said his widow Leticia.

Johnny is still with us. “We wanted to create a place where his fans could gather in his honor,” said Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo. Johnny Hallyday died in Paris in December 2017. But he is buried on the French Caribbean island of Saint Barthelemy, where he last lived with Leticia and their two adopted children.

The six-meter-high statue shows the neck of a guitar and a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, the rock star’s favorite means of transportation. In the evening, a concert was scheduled to take place at the Accor-Arena, the former square of Bercy-Arena, in Paris. Halliday has performed there about a hundred times. Hallyday was celebrated on the subway: Bercy station was renamed Bercy Johnny for a day.