It was written by David Guetta, Savan Kotecha, Giorgio Tuinfort, Rami Yacoub, and Carl Falk.

The single's peak of number 13 on the US Billboard Hot 100 ended Grande's streak of consecutive top ten hits from 2014.

Grande re-released "One Last Time" as a charity single in June 2017, following the Manchester Arena bombing at her concert the previous month.

Grande donated all proceeds from the re-release to the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund to aid the victims of the bombing and their families.

"One Last Time" was written by the songwriting team Savan Kotecha, Rami Yacoub and Carl Falk, with Dutch producer Giorgio Tuinfort and French disc jockey David Guetta.

[3] "One Last Time" was strongly considered to be My Everything's lead-single, according to Republic Records' executive vice president Charlie Walk, however "Problem" was chosen instead, being the song that best "set the tone for the project".

[6] Ultimately, "One Last Time" was released as the album's fifth and final single, being serviced to rhythmic crossover and contemporary hit radio stations on February 10, 2015, in the US.

[14][15] The song was re-released in June 2017 as a charity single, with proceeds being donated to the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund.

[21] As noted by Jason Lipshut of Billboard, "the downbeat admission of 'I know/that you got everything/But I got nothing here without you' is the pained sound of a narrator racked with guilt, the chorus sets aside that humiliation and scoops up a sense of hope,"[19] with the singer pleading, "One last time/I need to be the one who takes you home/One more time/I promise after that, I'll let you go".

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic picked the song as one of the album's highlights,[22] while Jason Lipshut of Billboard praised the track for "demonstrat[ing] Grande's newfound maturity and ambition".

[19] Rob Copsey wrote for the Official Charts Company that 'One Last Time' "suits her better than you’d think, [with] the singer reign[ing] in her powerful pipes on this breezy and wistful club track".

[23] AXS's Lucas Villa praised her performance for "exud[ing] sincerity and grace" and added that "[t]his baby-come-back tune showcases a softer side to the singer that highlights her dulcet vocals.

"[24] FDRMX writer John Mychal Feraren gave "One Last Time" a rating of 4.2 out of 5 stars, calling it "an excellent addition to her list of hit songs" and claiming that "its astounding musical production is effortlessly matched by [the] singer's sultry voice [...] transform[ing] an empty song into a masterpiece.

'"[25] Mikael Wood, while reviewing the album for Los Angeles Times, called it a "delight [with] surging dance beats,"[26] while Digital Spy's Lewis Corner named it a "restrained sibling" of "Break Free", having "speckles of electronica to save it from falling into dwindling balladry".

[28] Similarly, The National's Adam Workman claimed Grande is "far more effective when she leaves the musical school of 'why sing one note when you can stretch it out for several bars across three different octaves?

[29] Kathy Iandoli from Idolator labeled it ".. smooth yet eerily resemble when an adult contemporary artist attempts dance music..."[30] Nick Levine of Time Out concluded that the song "serves club pop with a side of melancholy".

[31] In contrast, Evan Sawdey of PopMatters observed that the song "strikes all the dance-pop and EDM-lite poses it needs to without leaving any significant impression afterwards".

[34] Following its impact to American radio formats, the song debuted at number 80 on the US Billboard Hot 100 for the week of February 28, 2015.

[51] In the wake of the Manchester Arena bombing, a resurgence of popularity and meaning for the single came as a homage to the victims of the incident, with Grande's fans starting petitions to get the song charting again.

[55] In Scotland, "One Last Time" also re-entered following the incident, and eventually topped the Scottish Singles chart on the issue dated June 9, 2017.

Although the rhythm of the two compositions may differ ... there is substantial similarity on the most important rhythmic placement of the pitches on strong melodic and harmonic beats (1 and 3)".

[59] The music video was filmed in early January 2015 and it also stars Matt Bennett, who was also Grande's co-star from the Nickelodeon sitcom Victorious.

Max Landis also confirmed that one of the voices of the news reporters in the beginning of the video was actress Elizabeth Gillies, who also co-starred in Victorious with Grande and Bennett.

[68][69] It surpassed 100 million views on June 8, making it Grande's sixth Vevo-certified music video after "Love Me Harder".

Frightened, the two continue on and enter a room filled with television screens of the comet and an old man sitting at a desk.

[74] Ariana Bacle of Entertainment Weekly called the music "very Chronicle", comparing the video to Max Landis' previous work.

From March 18 to April 5, 2019, Grande included a shortened remix of "One Last Time" on her Sweetener World Tour setlist.