[2] Ross and Richie recorded the song for Motown, and it was used as the theme for Franco Zeffirelli's film adaptation of Scott Spencer's novel Endless Love.

While the film Endless Love was a modest box-office success, the song became the second-biggest selling single of the year (first was "Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes) in the United States and reached number one on the Hot 100, where it stayed for nine weeks from August 15 to October 10, 1981.

It also became the most successful duet of the rock era, surpassing the Everly Brothers' 1957 hit "Wake Up Little Susie", which spent four weeks at number one.

At the 1995 Grammy Awards, the song was nominated in the new category of Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals, losing to "Funny How Time Slips Away" by Al Green and Lyle Lovett.

Sony Music Entertainment President Tommy Mottola suggested that Vandross record Songs, an album of cover versions.

Featuring Vandross' versions of songs like Stephen Stills' "Love the One You're With", Heatwave's "Always and Forever", and Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly", the album was shaping up to be a major career accomplishment.

To give the album a bigger boost, Mottola's then-wife, Mariah Carey, came up with the idea to remake "Endless Love" as a duet with her.

[40] Larry Flick from Billboard noted that it is "framed with beautiful, swelling strings (how 'bout those harps and rolling drums at the song's climax!)."

"[42] Entertainment Weekly's Jeremy Helligar wrote that the album might very will give Vandross a number one hit with "Endless Love" but still called the song "drippy.

"[43] A reviewer from Music & Media commented, "A compliment should go out to the casting director, who brought together two partners of equal magnitude to render the plush duet Diana Ross & Lionel Richie made famous.

The song became Luther Vandross' highest-charting pop hit ever and gave Lionel Richie his first top-10 single as a songwriter in seven years.

In 2014, Poison frontman Bret Michaels starred in a TV commercial for Nissan vans in which he performed the song, backed by Kiki Wong on lead guitar.