On an episode of his radio show broadcast on November 23, 2009, Cooper stated that "I Never Cry" was his biggest selling single; it was one of only two gold records Cooper earned in the US, the other being for his 1989 comeback hit "Poison". "I Never Cry" was written about Cooper's experiences with alcoholism, which one year later sent the performer into rehab. He called the song "an alcoholic confession".
As with most of Cooper's softer ballads, it fared poorly in recurrent rotation; it was too soft for the classic rock format, while classic hits stations have largely ignored it.[3]
"I Never Cry" was performed live by Cooper, though not consistently, during all tours up to his break in touring due to his addiction to crack cocaine and eventual relapse into alcoholism following 1981's Special Forces tour.[4] When Cooper returned to touring after Constrictor (1986), "I Never Cry" was never again performed until the 2002 'Descent into Dragontown' tour, following which the song became was a regular part of setlists on the 2005–06 'Dirty Diamonds' and 2009–10 'Theatre of Death' tours.[4]
Chart performance
The song peaked at No. 12 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and at No. 9 on Cashbox in January 1977. In Canada, it spent two weeks at No. 5.
It was also covered by Poison on the 2007 studio album, Poison'd!
In popular culture
OPM R&B artist Jay R performed the song in season 1 of the Philippine singing competition Your Face Sounds Familiar with a full impersonation of Alice Cooper. Cooper acknowledged the performance in a tweet.[13]
Child actor Awra Briguela performed the song in season 1 of the Philippine singing competition Your Face Sounds Familiar Kids with a full impersonation of Alice Cooper. Cooper acknowledged the performance in a tweet.[14]
Actor Christian Bables performed the song in season 3 of the Philippine singing competition Your Face Sounds Familiar with a full impersonation of Alice Cooper. Cooper acknowledged the performance in a tweet.[15]
^Ross, Sean (April 2, 2021). "Lost Factor's Top 10 Artists: 1970-94". Radio Insight. Retrieved April 14, 2021. Alice Cooper – The rocker/radio host is here on the strength of his four ballad hits that eventually got lost between two constituencies: "Only Women," "I Never Cry" "You and Me," "How You Gonna See Me Now."
