Although such a record was unusual for a teenage group, "Never Can Say Goodbye" was a number-two hit for three consecutive weeks on the Billboard Pop Singles chart, stuck behind Three Dog Night's "Joy to the World" (May 8–22, 1971), and a number-one hit on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart in the United States.

Hayes re-recorded the tune for the soundtrack of the 2008 film Soul Men, in which he appears alongside Samuel L. Jackson and Bernie Mac.

Gaynor has re-recorded the song on more than one occasion, in increasingly fast tempos, and subsequent remixes have hit the dance charts.

In 1987, British synth-pop band the Communards had a hit with a hi-NRG cover of the song, which was featured on their second album, Red.

Richard Lowe of Smash Hits named "Never Say Goodbye" "Single of the Fortnight" and considered it "a work of such splendour and vigour".

[38] Dianna Agron covered the song in 2012 during the eleventh episode of the third season of the American musical television series Glee, entitled "Michael".

[60] Entertainment Weekly's Joseph Brannigan Lynch called it "a nice summation of her character's journey, but not vocally impressive enough to justify listening to outside of the episode" and gave it a "B".

[66] In 2012, Wu-Tang Clan rapper Raekwon released his cover version of the song in which he raps over the instrumental.