The song is a country pop ballad about a lost love being compared to the song's namesake as a metaphor for being immature and having a tendency to run off to his own fantasy.
"Peter Pan" peaked at number one on both the Billboard Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts, becoming Ballerini's first to hit the top of the former, and her third consecutive on the latter chart.
It makes Ballerini the first female country music artist to top both country music charts at the same time. It also made her the first female country artist since Wynonna Judd in 1992 to send their first three singles to number one.
The song was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and has sold 672,000 copies in the US as of March 2017.
It garnered a Gold certification from Music Canada, denoting sales of 40,000 units in that country.