"Never Gonna Let You Go" is a popular song from 1982, written by the husband-and-wife songwriting team of Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann. Weil wrote the lyrics, while Mann wrote the music. It was first recorded by Dionne Warwick for her 1982 album Friends in Love, and then by singer Stevie Woods for his 1982 album The Woman in My Life. Its best known rendition is by Brazilian bandleader Sérgio Mendes, on his 1983 self-titled album, sung by Joe Pizzulo and Leeza Miller.
Weil and Mann had originally submitted "Never Gonna Let You Go" to American funk band Earth, Wind & Fire, but they decided not to record the song.[1][page needed]
Mendes, preparing for the release of his 1983 album, was quoted as saying, "All the other songs on the album were up and festive. I needed a ballad on the album, just to change the pace a bit."[1] Mendes' version was a hit, matching the No. 4 peak of his previous best showing on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, "The Look of Love", in 1968.[2] It spent four weeks at No. 1 on the BillboardAdult Contemporary chart and peaked at No. 28 on the BillboardR&B chart.[1]
On the Radio & Records airplay chart the song debuted #26 on the May 13, 1983 issue; after six weeks it reached and peaked at #7 for one week; the single stayed on the top 10 for three weeks and remained on the chart for twelve weeks.[3] The song was successful, especially in Brazil, being played on Rede Globo's soap opera Final Feliz.
In a June 2021 video posted on YouTube, record producer Rick Beato called "Never Gonna Let You Go" "the most complex pop song of all time", due to its use of frequent key changes, inverted chords and unusual chord progressions.[4] Beato's discussion includes a detailed harmonic analysis of the Sérgio Mendes arrangement.
