The single was commercially successful, reaching the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100, and number-one on the R&B chart.

"Lonely Teardrops" was also ranked #315 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (2011).

It is, however, widely accepted that the signature guitar lick was performed by George Barnes who was then a Decca artist and a first-call session musician, and the vocal accompaniment was supplied by "The Ray Conniff Orchestra and Chorus," who at the time were also popular in their own right, and who also supplied uncredited musical accompaniment to other popular singers and groups of the era.

In performances around 1958, The Isley Brothers often ended their shows with "Lonely Teardrops", and began to extend the song with an improvised call-and-response around the words "You know you make me wanna...

They would eventually record this ending as the separate song "Shout", which was their first chart hit and gold single, and has been widely covered including a UK top 10 version by Lulu.