"Never Say Goodbye" is a song by American rock band

Bon Jovi Bon Jovi is an American rock band formed in 1983 in Sayreville, New Jersey. It consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarist Phil X, and bassist Hugh McDonald. Original bassist Alec John such qu ...

, written by

Jon Bon Jovi John Francis Bongiovi Jr. (born March 2, 1962), known professionally as Jon Bon Jovi, is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor. He is best known as the founder and frontman of the rock band Bon Jovi, which was formed in 1983. He ...

and

Richie Sambora Richard Stephen Sambora (born July 11, 1959) is an American rock guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer, best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Bon Jovi from 1983 to 2013. He and lead singer Jon Bon Jovi formed the main songwri ...

. It was a track off the band's third album, ''

Slippery When Wet ''Slippery When Wet'' is the third studio album by American rock band Bon Jovi. It was released on August 18, 1986, by Mercury Records in North America and Vertigo Records internationally. It was produced by Bruce Fairbairn, with recording sess ...

'', in June 15, 1987, and reached number 11 on the

mainstream rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent the middle ground between classic rock and active ro ...

charts and number 21 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. Because it was not released domestically as a commercially available single, "Never Say Goodbye" was ineligible to chart on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100; nevertheless, it reached number 28 on the

Hot 100 Airplay The Radio Songs chart (previously named Hot 100 Airplay until 2014 and Top 40 Radio Monitor until 1991) is released weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and measures the airplay of songs being played on radio stations throughout the United States acro ...

survey. The song was featured on some versions of the band's '' Cross Road'' greatest hits album and is still occasionally performed live by the band in concert.

Song style

"Never Say Goodbye" is a

power ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner.J. ...

, featuring drawn out vocals and a slow tempo, in contrast to the other tracks on ''Slippery When Wet'', which are of a much faster, metal pace. The song is in the key of A major and progresses to C# minor, D major and D minor. On one of the early demos and alternate takes that were made for this song, Richie Sambora sang lead vocals on only one of them while Jon Bon Jovi sang lead vocals on most of them.

Track listing

*Original European Release (August 13, 1987) # "Never Say Goodbye" # "Shot Through the Heart" (Live)

US & UK CD "Re-Release"

# "Never Say Goodbye" # "Social Disease" # "Edge of a Broken Heart" # "Raise Your Hands"

Charts

{, class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" !Chart (1987–88) !Peak
position , - !scope="row", Australia (

Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent (historian), David Kent from May 1974 through to January 1999. The chart was re-branded the Australian Music ...

){{cite book, last=Kent , first=David , author-link=David Kent (historian), title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992, publisher=Australian Chart Book, location = Sydney, year=1993, edition=Illustrated, pages=41, isbn=0-646-11917-6 , style="text-align:center;", 26 , - {{Singlechart, Flanders, 28, artist=Bon Jovi, song=Never Say Goodbye, rowheader=true , - !scope="row", Ireland ( IRMA){{cite web , url=http://irishcharts.ie/search/placement , title=The Irish Charts , publisher=

Irish Recorded Music Association The Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) is a non-profit association set up in 1999 to promote certain interests of the music industry in Ireland. It is particularly active in addressing copyright issues, and it compiles the official music ...

, access-date=October 26, 2012 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721125210/http://irishcharts.ie/search/placement , archive-date=July 21, 2011 , url-status=dead ''Insert ''Never Say Goodbye'' in the field ''Search by Song Title'', then press ''Search''.'' , style="text-align:center;", 4 , - !scope="row", Netherlands ( Dutch Top 40 Tipparade){{cite web , url=https://www.top40.nl/tipparade/1987/week-39, title=Tipparade-lijst van week 39, 1987, publisher=

Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 ( nl, Nederlandse Top 40) is a weekly music chart compiled by ''Stichting Nederlandse Top 40''. It started as a radio program titled "Veronica Top 40", on the offshore station Radio Veronica in 1965. It remained "The Veroni ...

, access-date=March 13, 2023 , style="text-align:center;", 11 , - {{Singlechart, Dutch100, 59, artist=Bon Jovi, song=Never Say Goodbye, rowheader=true , - {{Singlechart, New Zealand, 38, artist=Bon Jovi, song=Never Say Goodbye, rowheader=true , - {{Singlechart, UK, 21, artist=Bon Jovi, song=Never Say Goodbye, date=1987-08-22, rowheader=true , - !scope="row", US

(''

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 adverti ...

'') , style="text-align:center;", 28 , - {{single chart, Billboardmainstreamrock, 11, artist=Bon Jovi, rowheader=true, access-date=September 1, 2020 , -

References

{{reflist, 30em {{BonJovi {{authority control 1980s ballads 1986 songs 1987 singles Bon Jovi songs Glam metal ballads Song recordings produced by Bruce Fairbairn Songs written by Jon Bon Jovi Songs written by Richie Sambora Music videos directed by Wayne Isham Mercury Records singles