Physical Singles Sales – Orphan songs
As a reminder, the weighting is done with a 10 to 3 ratio between one album and one physical single.
Orphan – 2,258,000 equivalent albums
Da Dou Ron Ron – 320,000 [EP]
Tutti Frutti – 60,000 [EP]
L’Idole des Jeunes – 640,000 [EP] – 10,000 [Célébrations/EP]
La Bagarre – 160,000 [EP]
A New Orleans – 60,000 [EP]
24000 baisers – 100,000 [EP]
Johnny Lui Dit Adieu – 200,000 [EP]
Les Chevaliers du ciel – 150,000 [EP] – 10,000 [SP]
San Francisco – 310,000 [EP] – 10,000 [SP]
L’Or De Mackenna – 20,000 [SP]
Que Je T’Aime – 10,000 [EP] – 1,290,000 [SP]
Ceux que l’amour a blessés – 370,000 [all SPs from now]
Fleur Déracinée – 60,000
Le Soleil Se Lève A L’Est – 30,000
J’ai un problème – 840,000
Noël Interdit – 650,000
Rien À Personne / Ne Tuez Pas La Liberté – 190,000
Ne Me Quitte Pas – 30,000
Diego Libre Dans Sa Tête – 110,000
Je Serai Là – 120,000
L’hymne à l’amour – 190,000
Pauvres Diables (Vous Les Femmes) – 80,000
On A Tous Besoin D’amour – 280,000
Tous ensemble – 480,000
Tout au bout de nos peines – 220,000
La Loi Du Silence – 130,000
La Quête – 80,000
Et Maintenant – 10,000
Johnny released an average of more than 1 album per year during his extensive career. Nevertheless, he still dropped plenty of singles outside of his studio albums. Stand-alone singles, promotional hits for live sets, compilations and duetts. This flood of songs include various big sellers.
Da Dou Ron Ron, L’Idole des Jeunes, Que Je T’Aime, Ceux que l’amour a blessés, J’ai un problème, Noël Interdit and On A Tous Besoin D’amour were all massive. As was Tous Ensemble, the #1 smash aimed to support the French football team at the 2002 World Cup. It vanished quickly after the squad went out in the group stage. One special track from this list is Diego Libre Dans Sa Tête. First released as a single in 1991, this #6 track hasn’t sold that much because of the singles crisis happening at that time. It remains one of his most famous songs to date and likely his most critically acclaimed.
This last set of singles catapults his career total to 37,78 million physical singles sold. Believe it or not, that’s more than Mariah Carey‘s Worldwide total in spite of her 18 US #1 hits!
I counted 10 million less. Are you counting EP’s as singles?
Hi MJD!
I’ve read that Mon pays c’est l’amour has already sold 890,000 (!!!) copies in France in the weeks since its release. Of course, given the circumstances and Johnny Hallyday’s stature that doesn’t actually feel too surprising, but comprehensively speaking, how do you see it performing in the long-run compared to the rest of his discography? Also, do you have a ballpark figure of how much his CSPC results may have increased in the year since his passing?
Hi Orange! Yes, it sold 888k pure units in its first two weeks. Not sure it will do that well in the long run (except in the run of Christmas of course), it’s sales aren’t reflective of an organic success. It’s mostly down to nostalgia effect added to the most insane promotion campaign that have ever been. Even main TV channels stopped their programs at midnight to stream live the album, to be honest it felt kind of nonsense. All jornalists and all were saying how utterly essential / great the album is even before listening parties had happen. I… Read more »
Thank you! I wasn’t aware of all the TV promotion, that does sound a bit ridiculous haha.
If he sold that much in 2 weeks, he must have totally crushed his own record of highest first-week sales in France, which is fantastic but it seems like it would be impossible for that to happen if he were still alive.
I’ve just gone through it, too quickly, but I’m going to look at it more carefully. That’s already the best level of Johnny sales research I’ve ever seen. This is a titanic job and must be difficult, as there is so much missing data. I am fairly familiar with Johnny’s career and have read quite a few books, some of which contain first-hand accounts. His artistic directors, record company heads. Everyone agrees that some times were more difficult. 66/67,74/75,81/84. Concerts were not always full and the hits were rarer. Outside, from what I’ve seen, it’s not always reflected in your… Read more »
France Gall has died. I believe she’s among those who had the most successful french songs abroad in the 60’s, isn’t she ?
Hi Rell! Yes, she definitely is. Maybe more impressively, Ella Elle L’A also did wonders all over continental Europe, as did Babacar. Obviously Poupée de Cire Poupée de Son was her biggest international hit during the 60s. It is reputed to have sold a million copies in Japan, and while this is most likely wrong (300k to 500k is a more realistic ballpark) it was definitely a smash there. It shipped 25,000 units upon release in the Netherlands and 10,000 units in Spain. It was a #1 hit in Norway and #2 in Germany. Except in continental Europe, she mostly… Read more »
Je vous suis très reconnaissant pour la qualité de votre travail. Fan de Johnny depuis toujours, je savais qu’il cumulait des chiffres de ventes impressionnants. Pouvoir précisément connaître les chiffres de tous ses opus est incroyable……… Grâce à vous, certains peuvent mesurer l’impact de cette immense star qui restera gravé à jamais dans notre cœur…..