The song was covered by Puerto Rican singer Manny Manuel, whose version peaked at number four on the Billboard Tropical Airplay chart in the US.

[10] Juan Gabriel penned all the songs in the album with Gustavo Farias handling its production including "Pero Qué Necesidad".

[15] An accompanying music video was directed by Pedro Torres and filmed in Miami and is a "brotherhood", featuring children and people of various races with the singer.

[17] Ramiro Burr, writing for the San Antonio Express-News, unfavorably compared the song to ABBA although he stated it has a "nice, melodic tune".

[11] Mario Tarradell of the Miami Herald felt both the song and "Vienes o Voy" "fail miserably" as "dance-oriented, drum machine-happy numbers".

[19] In the review of Juan Gabriel's performance at the Special Events Center, Maria Cortés Gonzalez of El Paso Times found it to be an "interesting, but ineffective opening".

Darren Jamison of the SingersRoom ranked it number ten on Juan Gabriel's best-songs of all-time and noted despite the "serious theme", he found the song "catchy and upbeat, with a lively rhythm and a joyful melody".

[21] In a similar list, a Classic Rock reviewer ranked it number seven and stated that it "has a 90s pop sound, but the catchy beat can still be appreciated today".

[25] Puerto Rican singer Manny Manuel covered "Pero Qué Necesidad" on his debut studio album, El Rey de Corazónes (1994), as a merengue track.