Johnny Hallyday (born Jean-Philippe Smet; 15 June 1943) is a French singer and actor. An icon in the French-speaking world since the beginning of his career, he was considered by some to have been the French Elvis Presley. He was married for 20 years to one of the most popular French female singers: Sylvie Vartan. They formed the golden couple of the sixties and seventies in Europe. Vartan's career is contained mostly in the 70s and 80s. She does not have significant a fan base among younger people or radio as of today. Hallyday, whose music career has spanned a half-century, is one of France's biggest stars. He has completed 100 tours, had 18 platinum albums, and sold more than 110 million records. Hallyday announced his retirement from performing on 3 December 2007, saying that he will retire in 2009, after a farewell tour. Johnny Hallyday is back in 2011 after a fairly publicized conflict with his former manager.