The track was recorded in 1982 at the Power Station recording studio, and released to radio in 1983.^[6] Jon Bon Jovi chose studio musicians who were recording with other artists using the studio at the time—these musicians became known as "The All Star Revue", which included: bassist Hugh McDonald (who would join Bon Jovi in 1994 as an unofficial member); guitarist Tim Pierce (who was working on a John Waite record with producer Neil Giraldo); drummer Frankie LaRocka; and keyboardist Roy Bittan. The keyboard intro was written by Mick Seeley—then of John Bongiovi and the Wild Ones and later with Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes—who also performed backing vocals on the track with David Grahmme.

In 1983, local radio station WAPP 103.5FM "The Apple" had a contest, held in conjunction with St. John's University, to search for the best unsigned band. After the song won the contest, it became a radio hit in the summer of 1983.

"Runaway" became the first single from the band's self-titled debut album. It hit the Top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 at #39 in early 1984 and became the band's first Top 40 hit in the US.^[7]

A dance/club remake of "Runaway" was released in July 2008^[8] by "DJ Freddy Retro featuring Jim Davis Jr." on Casa Records.^[9]

The music video was directed by Mike Cuesta (not to be confused with TV producer Michael Cuesta) and featured Jennifer Gatti in one of her earliest roles.^[10]

In latterday live performances, Jon Bon Jovi has been known to do a short guitar solo near the end of the song instead of hitting the high notes at the end; something only done in the 1980s, as heard on the vintage performance featured on One Wild Night: Live 1985-2001.

After the band attained worldwide fame in the mid to late 1980s they largely dropped earlier material from live performances, in favor of more well known and accomplished material. However, "Runaway" is a song of which they remain proud. Since the early 1990s, it has been the only song from the band's first two albums to be performed on a regular basis. "I still think a couple of the songs hold up," Bon Jovi said of the debut album in 2007. "'Runaway', definitely."^[11] A few others have been played live over the years, notably during The Circle Tour in 2010; however they were extreme rarities when they appeared and were not regularly performed.

Rapper Tru-NC released an updated hip-hop version of the song in 2011 with the same title. It tells a story about Tommy & Gina getting evicted from their apartment. The song is available to download for free at Tru-NC's Reverbnation page.

American rapper Immortal Technique samples the synthesizer in the track "Young Lords" from his album The Martyr (2011).

Mississippi rapper Tito Lopez samples the song on his own track "Married to the Mob" on his mixtape Tito Be Killing These Bitches 3.

Finnish melodic death metal band Blind Stare covered the track on the digipak edition of their Symphony of Delusions album.

• The song was made available to download on November 9, 2010 for use in the Rock Band 3 music video game in both Basic rhythm, and PRO mode which takes advantage of the use of a real guitar / bass guitar, and standard MIDI-compatible electronic drum kits / keyboards in addition to three-part harmony or backup vocals.^[12][13]