The beloved rock star, who died this week, was often compared to Presley in the UK. So, which other Francophone artists have English-speaking equivalents?

Johnny Hallyday, who died this week, was known by two epithets on the British side of la Manche: “the biggest rock star you’ve never heard of”, which assumes you’re not from one of the 29 countries that recognise French as a spoken language, and “the French Elvis”. The latter got us thinking: which other Francophone pop singers have Anglophone equivalents?

Serge Gainsbourg = Kanye West

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Controversialists ... Serge Gainsbourg and Kanye West. Composite: Redferns; Kevin Mazur/WireImage

Comic book artist and film director Joann Sfar says that Serge Gainsbourg was as controversial in France as Johnny Rotten was in the UK, but perhaps his modern-day equivalent is Kanye West. Burning 500 francs on television in 1984 to protest against tax increases was as much belligerent theatre as it was disappointing; the same could be said for West’s meeting with Donald Trump. What’s more, Serge and Jane were the Kanye and Kim of their time, while Gainsbourg would borrow regularly from Chopin in much the same way that West plunders the back catalogue of Nina Simone.

Mylène Farmer = Madonna

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Like minded ... Mylène Farmer and Madonna. Composite: Sipa/Rex Features; Alamy

Pop singer Mylène Farmer isn’t averse to controversy, either. The Quebec-born, Paris-based chanteuse released a series of provocative chansons during the 80s. These included debut single Maman a Tort, about a young girl’s obsession with her female nurse, and Libertine, which, in 1986, was the first major pop promo to feature full-frontal female nudity from the star – proving that she was out Madonna-ing Madonna at the time. The French were no doubt cooler about the whole thing than we were about Madonna’s Sex book, mind you.

Les Rita Mitsouko = Sparks

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Cerebral ... Sparks. Photograph: David Sillitoe/The Guardian

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Les Rita Mitsouko.

Catherine Ringer, lead singer of Les Rita Mitsouko, caused a ripple, rather than a cause célèbre, in France when her previous work in films such as Corps Brûlants (where she played “girl in orgy”) was revealed. Les Rita Mitsouko’s musical equivalent is quirky, cerebral legends Sparks; indeed, they collaborated in 1988 on the madly catchy Singing in the Shower, produced by Tony Visconti.

Jacques Brel = David Bowie

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Highly correlated ... Jacques Brel and David Bowie. Composite: INA/Getty Images; Redferns

Aside from their obsessions with death, and the fact David Bowie covered Jacques Brel a few times, the connection between the pair might seem superficial. However, there’s a striking correlation in their concluding years. Both stopped playing live 11 years before they died; both disappeared from public view and were subjected to press rumours about their health; both were in remission from cancer while recording their final records; both declined to talk to the press in their last days; and both released final records without their images on the covers for the first time.

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All metaphors break down somewhere, of course, but there are interesting comparisons to be made in modern French pop. Sébastien Tellier recently approached burlesque artist Dita Von Teese to record her first pop album; that collaboration will be with us next April. Such a seemingly incongruous match recalls the time Elvis Costello wrote a whole album for Wendy James. Elsewhere, Fishbach is an artist for our times; her debut album, À Ta Merci, features some of the greatest songs Abba never got around to writing.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Picking up where ABBA left off ... Fishbach. Photograph: Loic Venance/AFP/Getty Images

Then there’s Belgian Europop genius Stromae, who released Racine Carrée to wide acclaim in 2013 – it became France’s 16th-bestselling album of all time. Stromae has been compared to Morrissey for his wry, sometimes overwrought lyrics, but to hear him spit on a track like Bâtard is like hearing the zeitgeisty Eminem in full flow. As a Brusselian whose father was killed in the Rwandan genocide of 1994, he’s also more worldly than both of them.