"I Keep On Loving You" was written by Ronnie Dunn of Brooks & Dunn, along with his frequent co-writing partner, former McBride & the Ridelead singer Terry McBride. In the song, the female narrator expresses patience with her partner after he has made mistakes, telling him that she "keep on loving" him. McEntire told The Boot that she identified with the song because of her long marriage to her manager, Narvel Blackstock, as well as Dunn's long marriage to his wife, Janine: "We have been through rough times and tough times and arguments, but we made up over and over again." Reba also performed this song on the Faith Hill special: Home for the Holidays, for people giving their love to tell their adopted kids to show how much they mean to them. She performed the song at the 2010 ACM Awards.
Music video
The music video was directed by Michael Salomon, and premiered on CMT & GAC in March 2010. Mostly shot in black-and-white plus color shots of Reba singing, the video depicts a young bride and groom's wedding. She also portrays the bride's aunt. The bride's parents are played by Christian LeBlanc and Tracey E. Bregman.
Critical reception
The song has been met with generally favorable reviews. Mikael Wood and Randy Lewis of the Los Angeles Times thought that the song was an example of "mixed messages" on the album, saying that its theme of "patience and forgiveness for a partner who missteps time after time" was in contradiction to "Consider Me Gone." Blake Boldt of Engine 145 gave the song a thumbs-up, saying that it "becomes something special on the strength of her performance." Bobby Peacock of Roughstock also commended McEntire's performance, but thought that the second verse was weakly written and that the song was overproduced.
Chart performance
"I Keep On Loving You" debuted at number 57 on the U.S. BillboardHot Country Songs chart for the week of February 6, 2010. It also debuted number 90 on the U.S. BillboardHot 100 for the week of May 8, 2010, and at number 98 on the Canadian Hot 100 for the week of June 12, 2010. It entered the Top 10 on the Hot Country Songs chart for the week of June 19, 2010 becoming her 58th Top 10 hit on that chart, with a peak of number 7.
