In August 2018, "Billboard" picked it as the singer's 20th greatest single; "a mix of poetically off-center lyrics. a CD-skip stutter effect and that jangly guitar riff, ["Don't Tell Me"] would’ve ended up a mess for many artists. But for Madonna, it landed her yet another top five Hot 100 hit". Author Alejandro L. Madrid felt the song had elements of Nortec music. Steven Humphrey, from "The Portland Mercury", hailed it as "a freaking great song. (Perhaps the last great song of [Madonna's] career?) A stuttering combo of trip-hop and hillbilly folk, Madonna's soulful croon perfectly expresses the longing of a gal telling her beau to stop controlling how she feels". A negative review came from Cynthia Fuchs of "PopMatters" who wrote that the song "is another near miss, with admirable attitude but, well, laughable lyrics". "Entertainment Weekly"s Chuck Arnold listed "Don't Tell Me" as Madonna's 28th best single, writing that "with its acoustic guitar, country stomp, and stop-start trippiness, ['Don't Tell Me'] succeeds against the odds". From "Gay Star News", Joe Morgan wrote: "Lyrics don’t make a lot of sense, but that doesn’t matter. This is unique, country-electronic pop". "Don't Tell Me" debuted at number 78 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 chart, the week of December 9, 2000. Two weeks later it reached the top-40 of the chart at number 35. In February 2001, after its commercial release, the single climbed from number 16 to number four, giving Madonna her 34th top-ten single on the Hot 100. This achievement tied Madonna with the Beatles for second most top-ten singles and put her within reach of Elvis Presley's record of 36 top-ten hits. She later surpassed the record with her 2008 single "4 Minutes", thus becoming the artist with most top-ten singles in "Billboard" Hot 100 history. In 2015, "Billboard" ranked "Don't Tell Me" at number 26 on their list of "Madonna's 40 Biggest Hits" on the Hot 100. "Don't Tell Me" was also successful on "Billboard"s Dance Club Songs chart, being present on the chart for 14 weeks. It outlasted "Music" and tied with "Ray of Light" (1998) and "Bedtime Story" (1995) as Madonna's longest running song on the chart at the time.