The song was nominated for three Grammy Awards; for Record of the Year, Best Dance Recording, and Best Short Form Music Video, winning the last two.
"Ray of Light" was Madonna's highest debuting single at number five on the Billboard Hot 100, for the issue dated July 11, 1998. It was her highest-debuting single, surpassing previous best debuts with "You'll See" (1995) and "Frozen" (1998), both of which opened at number eight.
Curtiss was not aware of the fact that Madonna had recorded "Sepheryn" as "Ray of Light" and heard it for the first time being played on the radio. He "couldn't believe it" and was initially a bit annoyed, but became pleased with what Madonna had done with his original composition. He was also satisfied with the 15% royalties he received as songwriter credit.
The music video received a total of eight MTV Video Music Awards nominations in 1998, eventually winning five; for Video of the Year, Best Female Video, Best Direction, Best Editing and Best Choreography, becoming her most-winning song at the show.
It was the first time that the singer won the Video of the Year award; Madonna said she was grateful for MTV's recognition of the clip.