It was released in the United Kingdom on 12 November 1976 as the first single from the album, accompanied by national and trade advertising, full-colour posters, display sleeves as well as radio interviews.

The song reached number one on the UK Singles Chart and earned a gold certification from the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), with over a million copies sold.

"Don't Cry for Me Argentina" was critically appreciated, with Rice and Lloyd Webber winning the 1977 Ivor Novello award in the category of Best Song Musically and Lyrically.

"Don't Cry for Me Argentina" has been covered by multiple artists, including David Essex, The Carpenters, Olivia Newton-John, and Sinéad O'Connor as well as actors Lea Michele and Chris Colfer from the TV series Glee‍.

[1] Evita was initially produced as an album, before being adapted for the stage, following a formula that Lloyd Webber and Rice had employed during the production of Jesus Christ Superstar, their previous musical.

As "Oh What a Circus" ended with the character Che's sarcastic questioning of the mourning behind Eva's death, "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" started with only few lines being sung, while the rest of the song was reserved for the finale.

Lloyd Webber and Rice immediately started recording, and the first demos were those of "Don't Cry for Me Argentina", "I'd Be Surprisingly Good for You" and "Buenos Aires", with just piano as an accompaniment.

[4] Personnel working on the Evita album included recording engineer David Hamilton-Smith, Simon Philips on drums, Mo Foster on bass, Joe Moretti and Ray Russell on guitars and Anne Odell on keyboards.

They had initially tried out various lyrics as the main hook and title of the song including "It's Only Your Lover Returning" and "All Through My Crazy and Wild Days" amid fears that mentioning Argentina would reduce the commercial appeal.

Even poor Juan Peron should shed a tear or two; he is relegated...to the status of a 'walker,' a presentable man who adorns the arm of a rich and powerful woman as a human fashion accessory.

"[7] The song's lyrics are a "string of meaningless platitudes" according to Rice, who felt that it worked as an emotionally intense but empty speech by a "megalomaniac woman" trying to win the favor of the Argentines.

[3] Lloyd Webber's orchestral accompaniment added a different level to the track, with its composition consisting of pizzicato strings, and its flowing tempo introducing Covington's opening vocals.

[12] The single version of "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" was released in the United Kingdom on 12 November 1976,[13] accompanied by national and trade advertising, full-colour posters, display sleeves as well as radio interviews.

Rice and Lloyd Webber panicked and were almost on the verge of releasing another track from Evita called "Another Suitcase in Another Hall", recorded by Barbara Dickson, as the second single.

[59][60] Barney Kilpatrick, VP of promotion for Warner Bros. Records, said that "the only reason this mix is being done was to accommodate Top 40 radio [...] since we have a two-disc soundtrack, we're interested in selling albums, not singles".

[58] Recording sessions for the film's songs and soundtrack began in September 1995, and took place at the CTS Studios in London with Madonna accompanied by co-actors Antonio Banderas and Jonathan Pryce.

[61] An emergency meeting was held between Parker, Lloyd Webber and Madonna where it was decided that the singer would record her part in a more contemporary studio while the orchestration would take place somewhere else.

She allegedly found herself "petrified" when it came to doing the song; "I had to sing 'Don't Cry For Me Argentina' in front of Andrew Lloyd Webber [...] I was a complete mess and was sobbing afterward.

[71] A very positive review came from the Hartford Courant's Greg Morago, who called the song "a calculated, theatrical triumph of shameless pandering and steely determination that parallels the pop diva's own rise to the top.

[73] Writing for the Los Angeles Times, David Gritten opined that "show-stoppers like 'Don't Cry for Me Argentina', which need to be belted out, sound comfortable for her".

[76] A negative review came from NME's Alex Needham, who wrote; "by 1996 Madonna was fast turning into the pop equivalent of Sunset Boulevard's Norma Desmond, croaking, 'I'm still big!

[80] Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine commented: "Easily one of Madonna's greatest vocal performances to date, the singer's dramatic interpretation of Evita's unofficial theme song was both loyal and bizarrely autobiographical".

[81] Spin's Annie Zaleski wrote that the "nuanced but proud" rendition of the song "marked the start of Madonna’s Serious Phase, one where she balanced youthful coquettishness with a more mature, introspective outlook".

[84] AllMusic's Jose F. Promis praised the "Miami Mix" version of the song; "['Don't Cry For Me Argentina'] was transformed into a passionate, flowing dance number", highlighting Madonna's "truly impassioned performance which infuriated musical purists but delighted her fans and public alike".

[86] In 2018, the same magazine called the remix "a weirdly enjoyable menage à trois between Broadway, Latin and club music, with a pounding beat and lively tango that flourishes with Madonna’s earnest delivery".

[110] The performance on 26 August 2001, at The Palace of Auburn Hills, outside of Madonna's hometown of Detroit was recorded and released in the live video album, Drowned World Tour 2001.

[114] Madonna also did a "passionate rendition" of "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" during the Miami stop of her Rebel Heart Tour on 23 January 2016, accompanied by acoustic guitar.

Singer Tom Jones' interpretation of the song on his 1979 album, Rescue Me, received negative reviews, with biographer Lucy Ellis describing it as "the most ludicrous massacre on the LP".

Obsessed with purity and truth, she pitched herself somewhere between Christ and the Virgin Mary, as an asexual visionary whose suffering was Inextricably Intertwined with the pain of Ireland and of the world.

Angus Cargill, author of Hang the DJ: An alternative book of music lists was shocked by the complete revamp of the song as punk rock, saying that "there's a dark appeal in here, like the thought of taking a cattle prod to your grandma's".