"Never Can Say Goodbye" is a song written by Clifton Davis and originally recorded by the Jackson 5. The song was originally written and intended for the Supremes; however, Motown decided it would be better for the Jackson 5. It was the first single released from the group's 1971 album Maybe Tomorrow, and was one of the group's most successful records. It has been covered numerous times, most notably in 1974 by Gloria Gaynor and in 1987 by British pop group the Communards.

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Quick Facts Single by Jackson 5, from the album Maybe Tomorrow ...

"Never Can Say Goodbye"
Solid centre variant of the UK single
Single by Jackson 5
from the album Maybe Tomorrow
B-side	"She's Good"
Released	March 16, 1971 (1971-03-16) (U.S.)
Recorded	June 1970
Studio	Hitsville West (Los Angeles, CA)
Genre	R&B[1] pop[2]
Length	2:58
Label	Motown
Songwriter(s)	Clifton Davis
Producer(s)	Hal Davis
Jackson 5 singles chronology
"Mama's Pearl" (1971) "Never Can Say Goodbye" (1971) "Maybe Tomorrow" (1971)

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Recorded in June 1970 and released as a single in March 1971, the song features a young Michael Jackson singing a serious song about love, with accompaniment from his brothers. Although such a record was unusual for a teenage group, "Never Can Say Goodbye" was a number-two hit for three consecutive weeks on the Billboard Pop Singles chart, stuck behind Three Dog Night's "Joy to the World" (May 8–22, 1971), and a number-one hit on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart in the United States.^[3] In the United Kingdom, it reached number 33 on the UK Singles Chart.

Notable televised performances of the song by the Jackson 5 (and their newer incarnation, The Jacksons) include:

• The Flip Wilson Show, November 4, 1971 – this recording appears on the 2009 Jackson 5 CD I Want You Back! Unreleased Masters
• One More Time (Jackson 5 TV special), January 10, 1974
• The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, April 4, 1974
• Cher, March 16, 1975
• The Jacksons, July 7, 1976
• Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever, May 16, 1983

In addition, the song appeared on the animated TV show The Jackson 5ive in the episode "A Rare Pearl", which aired on January 15, 1972.

This version appears in the 1994 movie Crooklyn and on the second volume of its soundtrack album.

Isaac Hayes first recorded the song for his 1971 album Black Moses. Released as a single, this version reached number five on the Billboard R&B chart, number 19 on the Easy Listening chart, and number 22 on the Hot 100. Hayes re-recorded the tune for the soundtrack of the 2008 film Soul Men, in which he appears alongside Samuel L. Jackson and Bernie Mac. The film's producers dedicated the 2008 version to Mac and Hayes, who both died before the project was released.

A major version by Gloria Gaynor, re-imagined as a disco record in 1974, was a number-nine hit on the U.S. Pop Singles chart and went to number 34 on the Soul Singles chart.^[11] The Gloria Gaynor version became one of the defining recordings of the disco era. Indeed, her version peaked at number two in the United Kingdom during January 1975, and number three in Canada, surpassing the Jackson Five's original recording in those nations.

Gaynor's cover, released on MGM records, was produced by the Disco Corporation of America, a production company newly formed by Meco Monardo and Tony Bongiovi to which Gaynor was signed. Also working on this production were Jay Ellis and Harold Wheeler.^[12]

Gaynor's cover has the distinction of occupying the number-one spot on the first Dance/Disco chart to appear in Billboard magazine. Never Can Say Goodbye was also the title of Gaynor's debut album on which the single appeared.

Gaynor has re-recorded the song on more than one occasion, in increasingly fast tempos, and subsequent remixes have hit the dance charts.

Gaynor's version of the song was heard on the TV series Charmed ("That '70s Episode"), and is featured on the video game series Just Dance 2015.

In 1987, British synth-pop band the Communards had a hit with a hi-NRG cover of the song, which was featured on their second album, Red.

Their version reached number one in Spain and number two in Ireland, number four on the UK Singles Chart, number 51 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and number two on the Billboard Hot Dance/Disco chart in the U.S. The group had reached number one on those charts covering another 1970s song, "Don't Leave Me This Way", in 1986. The cover was also a top 10 hit in several European countries and New Zealand.

A music video was produced for this version of the song, directed by Andy Morahan.^[35]

The Communards version of the song was used as the signature tune to the 2013 British comedy series Vicious.

Other artists who have covered the song include:

• Mark Lindsay, on the 1971 album You've Got A Friend
• Grant Green, on the 1971 album Visions
• Andy Williams, on the 1971 album You've Got a Friend
• Herbie Mann, on the 1971 album Push Push
• Johnny "Hammond" Smith, on the 1971 album Breakout
• The Sandpipers, on the 1971 album A Gift of Song
• Junior Walker, on the 1971 album Moody Jr.
• Stevie Wonder, performed a Talkbox medley of the songs "Close To You" and "Never Can Say Goodbye" on the David Frost Show in 1972. He performed the song again in 2009 as a tribute to Michael Jackson.
• Rahsaan Roland Kirk, on the 1972 album Blacknuss
• Smokey Robinson, on the 1973 album Smokey^[58]
• Paloma San Basilio, in her debut album “Sombras”, included a version in Spanish called No Puedes Volver A Mí in 1975.
• Cal Tjader, on the 1973 album Last Bolero in Berkeley
• Former Ladies of the Supremes, on the 1995 album Supremely Yours
• Zachary Breaux, on the 1997 album Uptown Groove
• Yazz, on the 1997 album The Natural Life
• Gloria Estefan, as part of the "70's Moment Medley", a b-side to her 1998 single "Don't Let This Moment End"
• Sheena Easton, on the 2000 album Fabulous
• The Supremes, originally recorded for the shelved 1971 album Promises Kept, finally released on the 2002 album The '70s Anthology^[59]
• Lee Ritenour and Dave Grusin, on the 2003 album Twist of Motown
• Vanessa Williams, featuring George Benson, on the 2005 album Everlasting Love
• David Benoit, on the 2008 covers album Heroes^[60][61]
• Gerald Albright, on the 2009 album Sax for Stax^[62][63]
• Bob Baldwin featuring Chuck Loeb, on the 2009 album Lookin' Back^[64][65]
• Olivia Ong, on the 2010 album Olivia
• David T. Walker, on the 1973 album David T. Walker
• Westlife performed the song live in 2001 for BBC Children in Need.
• Frank Ocean covered the song as a medley alongside "Close To You" during his Blonde Tour in Summer 2017, It was inspired by Stevie Wonder's medley from 1972.
• Jack Stratton of Vulfpeck performed a version of the song with bassist Solomon Dorsey and original guitarist David T. Walker on the 2022 album Vulf Vault 006: Here We Go Jack. Walker played a chord melody to lead the song.

• Nicole Kidman sings a few lines of the song in the animated film Happy Feet (2006)
• Will Ferrell sang the song on the first episode of The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien
• Jorge Núñez sang the song on the top 13 show on American Idol season 8
• The song is used in the Broadway musical Disaster.
• A cover sung in Vietnamese by Khánh Hà plays in Gleaming the Cube.
• Loretta Devine sings a near 2 minute version of the song in an episode of Ally McBeal

The Neptunes remixed "Never Can Say Goodbye" on the 2009 Michael Jackson remix album The Remix Suite.^[72]

Astro rapped over the song on a 2011 episode of The X Factor USA.

In 2012, Wu-Tang Clan rapper Raekwon released his cover version of the song in which he raps over the instrumental.^[73]

While appearing on The Hollywood Squares Clifton Davis sang a bit of the song a capella and then was asked who wrote the song. His answer was "I did" to which the contestant agreed (and was correct).

• Written by Clifton Davis

"Never Can Say Goodbye" was originally copyrighted on June 10, 1970 [EU0000187089] and then was copyrighted again on December 21, 1970 [EP0000281027].