"Tears Always Win" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Alicia Keys for her fifth studio album, Girl on Fire (2012).

[8] Billboard said of the song, "In Keys' hands alone, this missing-my-baby ballad might have fallen victim to overly sappy platitudes about life on the road without her man by her side.

But with a little help from Bhasker and songwriting partners Bruno Mars and The Smeezingtons, "Tears Always Win" becomes an anthemic, soaring winner worthy of Keys' heroes Prince and Stevie Wonder.

[10] The co-writing credits shared partially by Bruno Mars and Philip Lawrence was met positively, with some critics, BET in particular, saying, "this song has a nice doo-wop touch, a welcome turn with the album sometimes threatening to veer towards Alicia's middle-of-the-road R&B comfort zone.

"[11] Upon release the album Girl on Fire, "Tears Always Win" debuted at the top of the South Korean Gaon Chart for international singles with 56,340 sold.

[19] Following Keys' announcement that the song would be a single and its debut live performance on season twelve of American Idol, "Tears Always Win" sold 15,000 copies in the United States.