"Photograph" is a 1983 single by British hard rock

Hard rock

Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...

 band Def Leppard

Def Leppard

Def Leppard are an English rock band formed in 1977 in Sheffield as part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement. Since 1992, the band have consisted of Joe Elliott , Rick Savage , Rick Allen , Phil Collen , and Vivian Campbell...

 from their album Pyromania

Pyromania (album)

Pyromania is the third studio album by British rock band Def Leppard, released on 20 January 1983. It featured new guitarist Phil Collen and was produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange. The album charted at #2 on the Billboard 200 and #18 on the UK Albums Chart.The album was partially recorded with...

. It was written as a tribute to the late actress Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....

, as singer Joe Elliott

Joe Elliott

Joseph Thomas "Joe" Elliott Jr is an English singer-songwriter, and musician, best known as the lead vocalist and occasional rhythm guitarist of the British rock band Def Leppard. He has also been the lead singer of David Bowie cover band, the Cybernauts and the Mott the Hoople cover band, Down...

 often stated before playing the song live onstage. When released as a single it reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top Tracks chart and No. 12 on the Pop Singles

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 chart. In 2006 the song was used in promotional ads for the DVD release of Blades of Glory

Blades of Glory

Blades of Glory is a 2007 American comedy film directed by Josh Gordon and Will Speck, and starring Will Ferrell and Jon Heder. The movie was released on March 29, 2007 by DreamWorks and MTV Films...

. In 2009 it was named the 13th greatest hard rock song of all time by VH1

VH1

VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...

. It was also listed as the No. 17 greatest song by VH1.

The 1993 live recording of the song in Sheffield

Sheffield

Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...

, England

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 appeared in the music video game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock is a music video game, the third main installment in the Guitar Hero series, and the fourth title overall...

as part of a Def Leppard downloadable track pack, as did the 1993 live recording of "Rock of Ages". The song was also included in the tracklisting of the rhythm music video game Battle of the Bands

Battle of the Bands (video game)

Battle of the Bands is a video game published by THQ and developed by Planet Moon Studios for the Wii console...

. In 2008 they performed the song with country pop

Country pop

Country pop, with roots in both the countrypolitan sound and in soft rock, is a subgenre of country music that first emerged in the 1970s. Although the term first referred to country music songs and artists that crossed over to Top 40 radio, country pop acts are now more likely to cross over to...

 singer Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift

Taylor Alison Swift is an American country pop singer-songwriter, musician and actress.In 2006, she released her debut single "Tim McGraw", then her self-titled debut album, which was subsequently certified multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America...

 on CMT Crossroads.

Joe Elliott commented on the Vault album that this song was a big hit in the US and that he felt disappointed that it didn't become a hit in the UK. Nationally syndicated sports talk show host Jim Rome

Jim Rome

Jim Rome is an American sports radio talk show host syndicated by Premiere Radio Networks, a subsidiary of Clear Channel Communications....

 commonly refers to "Photograph" as one of the all time great rock songs ever.

Music video

There are two versions of the music video. The uncensored version shows a knife scene at the beginning, and on the censored version of the video, it is almost the same except the knife scene is replaced with a stationary black cat among other minor bits removed. There are several appearances by the late Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....

 in the video, as the song is actually about her and lead singer Joe Elliot's declaration that he doesn't just "want [her] photograph" but that that's all he has of her, and he must admire her from afar.

The music video was directed by David Mallet

David Mallet (director)

David Mallet is a British director particularly noted for his work on music videos, including David Bowie's innovative "Ashes to Ashes", Rush's "Distant Early Warning, and Queen's "Radio Ga Ga" and "I Want to Break Free" videos. He has also served as a producer on television programmes including...

 and was shot on Thursday, 2 December 1982 (bassist Rick Savage

Rick Savage

Richard "Rick" Savage is the bassist and one of the founding members of the English rock band, Def Leppard. He is called "Sav" to avoid confusion between him and the other Rick in the band, drummer Rick Allen. He and lead vocalist, Joe Elliot, are the only remaining original members of the band...

's 22nd birthday), in Battersea, London, England. It featured the video debut of guitarist Phil Collen

Phil Collen

Philip Kenneth "Phil" Collen is the co-lead guitarist and one of the backing vocalists for English rock band Def Leppard. He joined the band in 1982 following the departure of Pete Willis.-Early years:...

.

7": Vertigo / Phonogram Ltd / VER 5 (UK)

This version of the 7" single has a standard cover.

1. "Photograph"
2. "Bringin´on the Heartbreak"

7": Vertigo / Phonogram Ltd / VERP 5 / Photograph pop-up cover (UK)

This version of the 7" single has a camera on the cover, that pops up and you can see a picture of Marilyn Monroe.

1. "Photograph"
2. "Bringin´on the Heartbreak"

7": Vertigo / Phonogram / Ver 9 – 605 960-8 (UK)

This version of the 7" single resembles a wallet.

1. "Photograph"
2. "Bringin´on the Heartbreak"

7": Mercury / PolyGram / 811-215-7 (US)

This is the US version. The front cover is the same as the UK version

1. "Photograph"
2. "Action! Not Words"

Cover versions

British band Oval recorded a cover of "Photograph" for their 1992 EP on Icerink Records.

Jani Lane

Jani Lane

Jani Lane , born John Kennedy Oswald, later changed to John Patrick Oswald, was an American recording artist and the lead vocalist, frontman, lyricist and main songwriter for the hard rock band Warrant....

 recorded a version of this song back in 2000 for a Def Leppard tribute album entitled Leppardmania.

The All-American Rejects

The All-American Rejects

The All-American Rejects are an American rock band formed in Stillwater, Oklahoma in 1999. The band consists of lead vocalist and bass guitarist Tyson Ritter, lead guitarist, Nick Wheeler, rhythm guitarist, Mike Kennerty, and drummer Chris Gaylor....

 performed a cover version

Cover version

In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

 of this song live on VH1 Rock Honors

VH1 Rock Honors

The VH1 Rock Honors were an annual ceremony paying homage to bands who influenced the sound of rock music. The events began in 2006, and the final event took place in 2008. The general format of each show is for modern bands to "pay tribute" to classic greats of the rock/metal world , after which...

.

The band Santana

Santana (band)

Santana is a rock band based around guitarist Carlos Santana and founded in the late 1960s. It first came to public attention after their performing the song "Soul Sacrifice" at the Woodstock Festival in 1969, when their Latin rock provided a contrast to other acts on the bill...

 covered the song for their 2010 album Guitar Heaven: The Greatest Guitar Classics of All Time

Guitar Heaven: The Greatest Guitar Classics of All Time

Guitar Heaven: The Greatest Guitar Classics of All Time, referred to as simply Guitar Heaven, is the 21st studio album by Santana, released on September 21, 2010...

. The song features Daughtry frontman Chris Daughtry

Chris Daughtry

Christopher Adam "Chris" Daughtry is an American musician best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the rock band Daughtry and as the fourth-place finalist on the fifth season of American Idol, from which he was eliminated on May 10, 2006...

 on lead vocals.

The Swedish/Greek

Greeks

The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....

 Melodic Death Metal

Melodic death metal

Melodic death metal is a heavy metal music style that combines elements from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal with elements of death metal. The style was developed during the early and mid-1990s, primarily in England and Scandinavia...

 band Nightrage

Nightrage

Nightrage is a Greek/Swedish melodic death metal band formed by guitarist Marios Iliopoulos and his close friend Gus G. who later re-located to Gothenburg, Sweden.-Sweet Vengeance:...

 covered the song along with Firewind

Firewind

Firewind is a Greek power metal band. Formed in 1998, the group is currently signed to Century Media Records and was originally a small project created by guitarist, Gus G. to showcase his demo, Nocturnal Symphony in 1998. Firewind later became a full band over three years later when they recorded...

 singer Apollo Papathanasio

Apollo Papathanasio

Apostolos "Apollo" Papathanasio is a Swede of Greek descent heavy metal vocalist, who is currently with the bands Firewind, Spiritual Beggars and Evil Masquerade. He has also sung for Meduza, Gardenian, and Richard Andersson's projects Majestic and Time Requiem.In 2007, Papathanasio had to opt...

 providing clean vocals. The song appears as the Japanese bonus track to their 2011 album Insidious

Insidious (Nightrage album)

Insidious is the fifth album by the melodic death metal band Nightrage. The album is set to be released September 26th in Europe and a day later in North America through German label, Lifeforce Records...

.

Def Leppard

Chart (1983)	Peak position
Canadian RPM Top Singles	32
UK Singles Chart	66
US Billboard Hot 100	12
US Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks	1

Santana featuring Chris Daughtry

Chart (2011)	Peak position
US Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks	30

See also

• List of number-one mainstream rock hits (United States)