PARIS • For the record, the dispute between the biological children of French rock legend Johnny Hallyday and his wife has gone up another notch.

Over the weekend, Laura Smet and David Hallyday launched court action to get access to their dad's posthumous album.

Tensions between the feuding members of the country's first family of show business blew up into full-scale war last week when they challenged a "rewritten" will, in which the singer left everything to his fourth wife Laeticia, 32 years his junior.

Hallyday's 51st studio album has now become part of the spat, after the "French Elvis" spent much of last year recording 12 songs for the record, which was unfinished when he died of lung cancer in December.

Smet will go to court to "get to know the posthumous album project in order to exercise her rights as heir, to be able to confirm that the artistic integrity of all its contents were respected in this album, which the press has announced would be completed soon", her lawyer said.

"Johnny Hallyday had proudly listened to the first raw recordings of some songs with his daughter Laura on Oct 4," the lawyer added.

Along with David Hallyday, Smet has appealed to a court to receive information about the album within 48 hours.

They also demanded Johnny Hallyday's real estate holdings, which include several luxury villas, be frozen ahead of a hearing scheduled for March 15.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE