Around that same time, the song was re-recorded again for a single "radio-mix" version released in June 1987 in the United States and 19 October in their native UK.

The success of the song propelled Whitesnake (1987) to hover near the top of the US Billboard chart for several months, becoming a national hit.

"Here I Go Again" received positive reviews, with some critics referring to the song as the "signature tune for Coverdale and Whitesnake".

During that time, Coverdale's marriage with his then-wife Julia became strained, which "fueled my [song]writing".

By August, the band had re-grouped with a slightly different line-up and introduced their fifth studio album in November.

[14] The composition began as a two-track demo at Marsden's residence in Buckingham, "with the opening line ‘I don't know where I'm going’, the chorus and the riff.

"[16] Not long after that, the song was finished, and the composition was shown to the band, to which the members responded with approval.

Jon Lord started the song with a hook into a Hammond organ, which impressed Marsden while playing guitar riffs on it.

[16] The most notable difference between the original and re-recorded versions is a slight change in the bluesy lyrics and pace.

And John, Neil and I worked on an amazing instrumental section in the middle, very symphonic, which featured, at that time, highlighted Cozy Powell and I thought it's gonna be great to have that too.

However, the lyric was changed back to "drifter" in the re-recorded '87 version, reportedly to ensure that it would not be misheard as "homo".

Following the death of Tawny Kitaen in 2021, the single debuted at number one on Billboard's Hot Hard Rock Songs chart on 22 May 2021 and number twenty-one on Billboard's Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart, to which it drew 2.5 million U.S. streams, up by 22 percent than the previous week, and sold approximately 1,000 song downloads, according to MRC data, totaling at 1,766 (minimum) to 1,800 sold in the US (according to the RIAA album-equivalent streaming sales unit).

[35] The video includes, besides the band's stage performance, appearances by model Julie E. "Tawny" Kitaen, who was married to Whitesnake's David Coverdale from 1989 to 1991.

[38][39][40] Coverdale's iconic white Jaguar once again appeared in the music video for the single "Shut Up & Kiss Me" from the 2019 studio album Flesh & Blood.

[49] In the 2012 Reader's Poll of Rolling Stone, it ranked 9th among the top 10 "Best Hair Metal Songs of All Time".