Song · Bon Jovi
“Never Say Goodbye” by Bon Jovi
From the album Slippery When Wet (1986)
“Never Say Goodbye” by Bon Jovi appears on 5 radio countdowns from 3 stations between 1990 and 2025. It was first released in 1986 on the album Slippery When Wet. Its best result is #253 on the River 500 (2022). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #2,068 classic rock song of all time.
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"Never Say Goodbye" came off Slippery When Wet, Bon Jovi's third album from 1986, and in 1987 it followed "Wanted Dead or Alive" onto the airwaves. Jon Bon Jovi wrote it with Richie Sambora and sings lead, and Sambora throws his whole arsenal at it: acoustic and electric guitars, guitar synthesizer and a talkbox. David Bryan's keyboards, Alec John Such's bass and Tico Torres on drums and percussion fill in the rest.
Bruce Fairbairn produced it, and Bob Rock engineered and mixed it to an arena-sized shine. With no commercial single in the States it couldn't chart on the Hot 100, but it still climbed to 28 on the Hot 100 Airplay survey, 11 on the mainstream rock chart and 21 in the UK. It later landed on some editions of the Cross Road hits album, and the band still dusts it off on stage now and then.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Classic Rock
Hard Rock & Metal
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 445 | Z-Rock | Z-Rock Top 1001 Songs of All-Time (1990) | 1000 |
| 2022 | 365 | 99.1 PLR | 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2022) | 500 |
| 2022 | 253 | 97.1 The River | River 500 (2022) | 500 |
| 2024 | 302 | 99.1 PLR | 99.1 PLR Top 400 of the Last 40 Years (2024) | 400 |
| 2025 | 354 | 99.1 PLR | 99.1 PLR Top 400 of the Last 40 Years (2025) | 400 |
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