the song received critical acclaim. while reviewing "21", allmusic's matt collar concluded that "rumour has it" and "he won't go" are "terrifically catchy, booty-shaking numbers, and exactly the kind of songs you want and expect from adele." noel murray of "the a.v. club" wrote that the song was "overpowering", while leah greenblatt of "entertainment weekly" praised adele's voice comparing it with the shangri-las. chris parkin of "nme" called it "a swamp song so perfectly shadowy david lynch might be fond of it." jon caramanica of "the new york times" found "hollow counterpoint vocals, and a daringly morbid bridge that jerks away from the song's rhythm, before once again acceding to it." matthew cole of "slant" magazine concluded that when adele sings an adventurous arrangement like the "spooky tin pan alley blues" on "rumour has it", she "sounds every bit the phenomenon the press has made her out to be." joanne dorken of mtv uk said that the song is a "bluesy/soul anthem [which] shows a more sassy side to adele. with its banging drums, infectious beats and cheeky lyrics, you can't help but tap your feet to this up-tempo number from miss. adkin." popmatters jer fairall called "rumour has it" a "booming john barry homage." the writers of "rolling stone" placed the song at number twenty-nine on their list of "50 best singles of 2011".