"No Tears Left to Cry" received universal acclaim from music critics upon its release. Meaghan Garvey of
Pitchfork said it is a musical progression for Grande and her vocals surpass those of her peers. According to Garvey, the song is "striking in its optimism: the soundtrack for the exact moment you decide to keep going." Similarly,
The Observer deemed it "a dazzling exercise in pop lightness, bringing optimism after last year's Manchester attack." In
The Guardian, Laura Snapes gave it four out of five stars, citing it as a "timeless sad song" and akin to Grande's
One Love Manchester concert as "one of the most joyful, defiant celebrations of pop and the communities it inspires". Joel Golby, also from
The Guardian, found the song expansive and appropriate, complimenting Grande's high notes and unconventional adlibs. Matt Mellis of
Consequence of Sound noted Grande's skill in cadence change and a lasting relevancy through hope and resilience. In
NME, Nick Reilly complimented the track's "hugely infectious" chorus, while Hannah Mylrea regarded it as
euphoria and concluded, "Tackling hate and devastation with hope and disco, 'No Tears Left to Cry' is a triumph." Matthew Kent of
The Line of Best Fit commented, "Ariana is picking it up while we're turning this up", and said she "certainly pulled it out of the bag".
Fact gave the track a score of 7.7 out of 10, describing it as "somber but triumphant and even though it includes cringy lyrics... it packs a punch." In his review for
Billboard, Andrew Unterberger wrote that the song is "a grower, not to be fully appreciated on first listen." Writing for
Variety, Chris Willman called it "the breeziest, most danceable kind of post-traumatic recovery anthem", but said "it's not likely to ever be inducted into the Max Martin Hall of Fame". In a May 2018
Time magazine cover article,
Sam Lansky says of the song: "Grande made a song about resilience because she has had to be resilient, in ways that are difficult to imagine, after a terrorist detonated a bomb outside her May 22, 2017, concert in Manchester, England, killing 22 people and leaving more than 500 injured. What happened is part of the song, but the song is not about what happened. Instead of being elegiac, it's joyful and lush".
Stereogum ranked "No Tears Left to Cry" as the ninth best song of the 2010s, praising it as "glittering and triumphant, grand and unapologetic [...] The song exudes the magic of moving forward and marked a new era of Grande. She graduates from the glitzy trend-pop that dominated her earlier work, transforming her grief and recovery into a soaring dance ballad. It has all the elements of a first-rate Ariana Grande song — her iconic vocal range is stretched for all its worth, backed by a contagious shuffling beat — and adds a new strength to her resume: vulnerability."
NME ranked it as the best song of 2018 in their year-end poll, and ranked it at number 28 on their "Best Songs of the Decade" list.
Time Out ranked "No Tears Left to Cry" as the 25th best pop song of all time.
The Guardian and
Rolling Stone both named it as Grande's second best song, behind "
Into You". == Accolades ==