Billy Dukes of Taste of Country described the ballad as "dark love song", while Carolyn Menyes of Music Times called it "relatable and heartbreaking".

[1][2] Billboard writer Chuck Dauphin compared "Lonely Tonight" to Shelton's earlier work from Pure BS (2007) and Startin' Fires (2008).

[1] Michael McCall of The Calgary Herald noted that the song "shows off [Blake's] vocal and emotional range.

"[4] "Lonely Tonight" debuted at number 38 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart for the week ending November 29, 2014.

[9] A teaser video featuring the audio of "Lonely Tonight" was uploaded to Blake Shelton's official YouTube channel on September 30, 2014, along with the other songs off Bringing Back the Sunshine.