At the end of 2000, Billboard ranked the song as the 43rd-most-successful hit of the year. The song became a top-five hit on four other Billboard charts, reaching number three on the Adult Top 40, number four on the Adult Alternative Songs and Modern Rock Tracks charts, and number five on the Mainstream Top 40. Ten weeks later, on April 1, 2000, the song reached its peak of number 14 on the Hot 100, and it stayed on the listing for 22 weeks, last charting at number 46 on June 17.

On the US Billboard Hot 100, 'Never Let You Go' first at appeared at number 65 on the week dated January 22, 2000, becoming that issue's 'Hot Shot Debut'. Julie River of praised the 'beautiful chord-based hook', favorably comparing the song to lead single 'Anything'. Club declared that the song is a standout on Blue, calling it a 'sparkly, hitworthy single'.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic praised the song's hook, referring to 'Never Let You Go' as the album's highlight.

He continued to praise the song, calling the chorus 'easy, spirited, memorable - the stuff that hits are made of.' Elysa Gardner of Entertainment Weekly called the song 'crackling, power-pop', commenting that it is nearly as captivating as ' Semi-Charmed Life'. Critical reception īillboard music reviewer and editor Chuck Taylor said that the song 'packs in the hooks a compelling opening guitar riff, a celebratory party ambience, an end-of-song spoken part that kids everywhere will be reciting ad-nauseam, and lead singer/writer/co-producer Stephan Jenkins' dead-on vocals, delivered in a pleasing falsetto at times'. Jenkin's vocal range spans two octaves, from C♯ 4 to G♯ 6. Composition Īccording to the sheet music published at by Alfred Publishing, the song is written in the key of E major and is set in time signature of common time with a tempo of 112 beats per minute. Maybe if I give you a little more percentage I could just leave my name on it?'. In an interview with RIFF Magazine, Salazar claimed that Jenkins approached him, stating, 'I really want to get the credit on. Despite Jenkins being credited as the sole writer of the song, Salazar claims to have written the bass melodies, bridge, and chord progressions. The writing credits of the song are a subject of debate among frontman Stephan Jenkins and former bassist Arion Salazar. Jenkins commented in the liner notes of the band's compilation album, A Collection, that it was written about a muse of his at the time (allegedly Charlize Theron), and it was written to 'freak her out' when she heard it on the radio.

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