"Picture of You" is a song by Irish boy band

Boyzone Boyzone were an Irish boy band, created in 1993 by talent manager Louis Walsh. Before even recording any material, Boyzone made an appearance on RTÉ's '' The Late Late Show''. Their most successful line-up was composed of Keith Duffy, Steph ...

, released as the first single from their third studio album, '' Where We Belong'' (1998). Written by frontman

Ronan Keating Ronan Patrick John Keating (born 3 March 1977) is an Irish singer. He debuted in 1993 alongside Keith Duffy, Michael Graham, Shane Lynch, and Stephen Gately, as the co-lead singer (with Gately) of Irish pop group Boyzone. His solo career start ...

Eliot Kennedy Eliot Kennedy (born 29 March 1969) is an English songwriter and record producer based in Sheffield. He has worked with artists such as Billie Piper, The Spice Girls, Mary J. Blige, Donny Osmond, Bryan Adams, Lulu (singer), Lulu, S Club 7, Five ( ...

, and producers

Absolute Absolute may refer to: Companies * Absolute Entertainment, a video game publisher * Absolute Radio, (formerly Virgin Radio), independent national radio station in the UK * Absolute Software Corporation, specializes in security and data risk manage ...

, the song peaked at No. 2 in both Ireland and the United Kingdom and led to Keating winning an

Ivor Novello Award The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been a ...

. It is best remembered as the ending theme song for the film '' Bean: The Ultimate Disaster Movie'', for which

Rowan Atkinson Rowan Sebastian Atkinson (born 6 January 1955) is an English actor, comedian and writer. He played the title roles on the sitcoms '' Blackadder'' (1983–1989) and ''Mr. Bean'' (1990–1995), and the film series ''Johnny English'' (2003–201 ...

appeared as his character with the band on both the single cover and in the music video.

Critical reception

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the music ...

from ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' wrote, "This videogenic boy group continues in its quest to win the hearts of stateside teens with a cute confection that borrows heavily from the vintage

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

sound of the

Temptations The Temptations are an American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan, who released a series of successful singles and albums with Motown Records during the 1960s and 1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield, beginning with the Top 1 ...

and the

Four Tops The Four Tops are an American vocal quartet from Detroit who helped to define the city's Motown sound of the 1960s. The group's repertoire has included soul music, R&B, disco, adult contemporary, doo-wop, jazz, and show tunes. Founded as the ...

. Unfortunately, their vocals are not nearly as soulful, even though their harmonies are note-perfect. Still, there should certainly be more than a handful of kiddie-driven top 40 stations that will find this track useful. Also,

Polydor Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

would be wise to court the mature ears of AC radio listeners, who will get a nostalgic charge out of this 'Picture'." A reviewer from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' rated it four out of five, describing it as a "catchy pop/soul song".

Track listings

* UK and European CD1 # "Picture of You" – 3:28 # "Let the Message Run Free" – 5:08 # "

Words A word is a basic element of language that carries an objective or practical meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of what a word is, there is no consen ...

" (Spanglish version) – 4:02 * UK and European CD2 # "Picture of You" – 3:28 # "Picture of You" (extended mix) – 5:54 # "I've Got You" – 3:45 * UK cassette single # "Picture of You" – 3:28 # "Picture of You" (extended mix) – 5:54 * Japanese CD single # "Picture of You" # "Let the Message Run Free" # "Shooting Star" # " Baby Can I Hold You" (7-inch edit)

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Cover versions

* In 1999, the song was covered in

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

by girlband Tentações on their second and final studio album ''Nunca Me Percas'', titled as '"Tu és a Minha Loucura" * In 2007, the song was performed by

Westlife Westlife is an Irish pop vocal group formed in Dublin, Ireland in 1998. The group currently consists of members Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, Kian Egan, and Nicky Byrne. Brian McFadden was a member, until he left in 2004. The group temporarily di ...

on their

The Love Tour The Love Tour was a tour by the Irish band Westlife seen by 390,000 fans. The tour started in Australia, and covered Africa and UK in 2007. The tour had a subtotal of £1,031,033 gross secondary ticket sales. Support acts *Code 5 *Cushh *Dyyc ...

* In 2007, the song was performed by Boyzone at their return performance on the ''

Children in Need 2007 ''Children in Need 2007'' was a campaign held in the United Kingdom to raise money for Children in Need. It culminated in a live broadcast on BBC One on the evening of Friday 16 November, through to the morning of Saturday 17 November. The broadca ...

'' charity event * In 2017, the song was performed by

Elmo Magalona Elmo Moses Arroyo Magalona (born 27 April 1994) is a Filipino actor and singer. He is currently an artist of ABS-CBN and Star Magic. He is the child of Francis Magalona and Pia Magalona. Biography 2009–2010: Early career Magalona's first app ...

and

Janella Salvador Janella Maxine Desiderio Salvador (; born March 30, 1998) is a Filipino actress and singer. Debuting in the hit morning drama ''Be Careful with My Heart'' (2012–2014), she followed with leading roles in ''Oh My G!'' (2015), Jun Lana's ''Haunte ...

on the '' 31st PMPC Star Awards for Television''

References

{{Authority control 1997 singles 1997 songs Boyzone songs Mr. Bean Number-one singles in Scotland Polydor Records singles Song recordings produced by Absolute (production team) Songs written by Andy Watkins Songs written by Eliot Kennedy Songs written by Paul Wilson (songwriter) Songs written by Ronan Keating Songs written for films