The song was originally written for the soundtrack to the 1993 film Romeo Is Bleeding. After disliking the movie - which was a critical and box office bomb on release - the band decided not to lend "Always" to the producers. Jon Bon Jovi left the track on his shelf and forgot about it, until a friend found it and convinced him to re-record and release it on the band's Cross Road compilation album.
The song reached #4 in the U.S. Billboard charts, No. 2 on the Mainstream Top 40 and was also an international hit, peaking at #1 in Canada, #2 in Australia and the United Kingdom, and #4 in Germany.
During the 2005-2006 Have a Nice Day Tour it was occasionally performed in the acoustic style heard on the band's 2003 This Left Feels Right album.
The song is featured on the band's Live From London Video.
Scotland (Official Charts Company) reached Number 3, 1994.