Joey Molland, the last surviving member of the classic line-up of Badfinger, took to Twitter to express his excitement at the song's use in the finale and subsequently began to retweet news articles about the song's usage in the finale.
According to Nielsen Soundscan, 5,300 downloads were purchased the night of the broadcast, and the song appeared on the Billboard Digital Songs chart at #32 the week ending October 19, 2013. Online streams increased in popularity immediately following the broadcast.
The song experienced a resurgence of popularity in 2013 when it was featured in the television program Breaking Bad during the closing scene of the series finale. Although the single was assigned a release number for the UK (Apple 42), and had a scheduled release date of 10 March 1972, "Baby Blue" was never actually released as a single in the UK. While Apple US gave the song a picture sleeve and a remix to ensure that it was a hit, Apple UK remained unaware of its commercial potential. However, the chaos that was enveloping the Apple UK operation at the time was strongly evident with regard to this song. It was the group's last Top 20 single, peaking at #14 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart. Because Al Steckler, the head of Apple US, felt that it needed a stronger hook in the opening, he remixed the track with engineer Eddie Kramer in February 1972, applying heavy reverb to the snare during the first verse and middle eight. "Baby Blue" was released as a single in the US on 6 March 1972, in a blue-tinted picture sleeve and featuring a new mix. Ham composed the song on acoustic guitar and Molland claims to have helped streamline the song's linking parts. I don’t know whether they fell in love straight away, but he invited her on the road with us and she came along." Ham ultimately ended the relationship, partially as a result of Armstrong's lack of interest in Badfinger's recording and touring activities. Guitarist Joey Molland recalled, "She came to one of the shows, they got talking and Pete really liked her. Ham wrote the song about a woman named Dixie Armstrong, whom he had dated during Badfinger's last US tour.