Coordinates: 50°51′44″N 2°17′48″E / 50.8622°N 2.2967°E / 50.8622; 2.2967

Merckeghem is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.

Jean-Philippe Smet better known by his stage name Johnny Hallyday (born 15 June 1943, Cité Malesherbes, Paris, France) 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 15 years to popular Bulgarian-French singer Sylvie Vartan. They formed the golden couple of the sixties and seventies in Europe. Johnny 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. Hallyday, though, announced in March 2012 that he would perform in Los Angeles on April 24 and in New York City on October 7.

Hallyday's father, Léon Smet (1908–1989), was Belgian, his mother Huguette Clerc (1920–2007) was French. Hallyday took his stage name from his aunt Desta's husband and dance partner Lee Hallyday, a pseudonym for Lee Ketcham, an expatriate Oklahoman, performer and MC at the Cafe de Paris when Johnny began his singing career. Johnny was raised by Desta and Lee from a very young age, with Lee being his first manager.