Daughters Jade and Joy stand by the coffin of Johnny Hallyday outside La Madeleine Church prior to the funeral ceremony in tribute to their father in Paris on Saturday. (EPA Photo)PARIS: France bid adieu on Saturday to its biggest rock star, honouring Johnny Hallyday with an exceptional funeral procession down the Champs-Elysees, a presidential speech and a parade of motorcyclists -- all under intense security. It was ordered by President Emmanuel Macron -- a Hallyday fan himself, like generations of others across the French-speaking world. Johnny was his country," Macron told fans massed in central Paris for the funeral events. Laurenne Coral, a 25-year-old from Lyon, said: "For the French, he's like what Queen Elizabeth is for the English."

Source: Bangkok Post December 09, 2017 14:03 UTC