"Shine" is the second single taken from English pop group

Take That Take That are an English pop group formed in Manchester in 1990. The group currently consists of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen. The original line-up also featured Jason Orange and Robbie Williams. Barlow is the group's lead singer ...

's comeback album, '' Beautiful World'' (2006). It became Take That's sixth consecutive number one single and their tenth number-one overall, making them one of only seven acts in the history of the UK charts to have more than nine number one hits.

Background and release

The song is written in the key signature of E flat major; however, on some live versions it is performed in D major. It later emerged that

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, launching a solo career in 1996. His debut studio album, ''Life thru a Lens'', was re ...

was the subject of the track, written and released prior to his decision to return to the band. The version of "Shine" performed during the band's Beautiful World Tour in 2007 featured an intro that was taken from the finale to the song " Mr. Blue Sky" by the British pop rock group

Electric Light Orchestra The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood and drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of pop and classical arrangement ...

—this was also done on the group's subsequent The Circus Tour in 2009, and on the Progress Live Tour in 2011. "Shine" was released on 26 February 2007 and features lead vocals by

Mark Owen Mark Owen (born 27 January 1972) is an English singer and songwriter best known for being a member of pop group and band Take That; as of 2024, the group have sold 14.4 million albums and 14 million singles in the UK. In Owen's solo career, he h ...

. A 'live' version was recorded at a session with

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

, and appears on the CD singles of " I'd Wait for Life" and " Reach Out". The song went on to win the British single of the year award at the 2008 BRIT Awards making it Take That's seventh Brit Award.

Critical reception

Sharon Mawer from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

described the song as "a masterpiece of 21st century pop". The

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

noted the song as "a brilliant

Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

esque, funky pop song".

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its initial launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television pro ...

rated the song 5/5 commenting on the musical development of the band, labelling the tune "exciting" and a "really great, fun track".

Commercial performance

The single entered the UK Singles Chart at number 83, and made its official debut to the charts at number 30 the following week, three weeks before its physical release. It reached number one on 4 March 2007, staying two weeks at the top. The single peaked at number two on the download chart. During its first week at the top of the UK Singles Chart, the single rose from number 20 to 2 on the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are ...

. The single has been certified double Platinum in the UK for sales over 1,200,000, and was the second most played/used song of the 2000s in the UK, as reported by UK music licensing body PPL.

Music video

The video for "Shine" was directed by Justin Dickel with a concept of recreating a

Busby Berkeley Berkeley William Enos, (November 29, 1895 – March 14, 1976) known professionally as Busby Berkeley, was an American film director and musical choreographer. Berkeley devised elaborate musical production numbers that often involved complex geo ...

style musical number. It premiered on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

on Thursday 25 January 2007 at 11:05 p.m. While

Gary Barlow Gary Barlow (born 20 January 1971) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He is the lead singer of the pop group Take That. Barlow is one of the United Kingdom's most successful songwriters, having writ ...

sits at the piano, the other three members perform the song for the most part on a noble staircase. In the background, a dozen women who are dressed in gold dance.

Samplings

The song is sampled in

Lily Allen Lily Rose Beatrice Allen (born 2 May 1985) is an English singer, songwriter, and actress. List of awards and nominations received by Lily Allen, Her accolades include a Brit Award, alongside nominations for a Grammy Award and a Laurence Olivi ...

's 2009 song " Who'd Have Known", which in turn is sampled in

T-Pain Faheem Rashad Najm (born September 30, 1984), known professionally as T-Pain, is an American singer and rapper. He is known for popularizing creative use of Auto-Tune pitch correction, often used with extreme parameter settings to create electro ...

's 2011 single " 5 O'Clock".

Track listings

UK CD single # "Shine" (radio mix) – 3:29 # "Trouble with Me" – 3:23 German CD single # "Shine" – 3:29 # "Trouble with Me" – 3:23 # "Patience" (stripped down version) – 3:19 # "Shine" (video) – 3:29 Dutch CD single # "Shine" – 3:29 # "Trouble with Me" – 3:23 # "Patience" (stripped down version) – 3:19 # "Patience" (Live In

Goede Tijden, Slechte Tijden (, ), also known as ''GTST'' or simply , is the longest-running Dutch soap opera, which began on 1 October 1990 on RTL4. The programme was the first daily (every workday) soap in the Netherlands and Europe. The soap is produced by Joop van de ...

- video) – 3:29 Belgian CD single # "Shine" – 3:29 # "We Love to Entertain You" – 4:11

Personnel

– lead vocals *

– backing vocals *

Howard Donald Howard Paul Donald (born 28 April 1968) is an English singer, songwriter, drummer, pianist, dancer, DJ and record producer. He is a member of the pop group Take That. He was also judge on the German reality talent show ''Got to Dance'' from 20 ...

– backing vocals * Jason Orange – backing vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

In popular culture

The song was featured in several commercials for the

Morrisons Wm Morrison Supermarkets Limited, trading as Morrisons, is the List of supermarket chains in the United Kingdom, fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Sco ...

supermarkets in the UK, fronted by actress Denise van Outen, comedian Nick Hancock, television presenter Gabby Logan, gardener Diarmuid Gavin, singer

Lulu Lulu may refer to: Companies * LuLu, an early automobile manufacturer * Lulu.com, an online e-books and print self-publishing platform, distributor, and retailer * Lulu Hypermarket, a retail chain in Asia * Lululemon Athletica or simply Lulu, a C ...

, football pundit Alan Hansen and television presenter

Richard Hammond Richard Mark Hammond (born 19 December 1969) is an English journalist, television presenter, and author. He co-hosted the BBC Two motoring programme ''Top Gear (2002 TV series), Top Gear'' from 2002 until 2015 with Jeremy Clarkson and James Ma ...

. According to a PRS-published list of songs used in TV and radio advertisements, it was the 7th most played song for the year 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shine (Take That Song) 2006 songs 2007 singles Brit Award for British Single Number-one singles in Scotland UK singles chart number-one singles Song recordings produced by John Shanks Take That songs Songs about depression Songs written by Mark Owen Songs written by Gary Barlow Songs written by Jason Orange Songs written by Steve Robson Songs written by Howard Donald Polydor Records singles