Considering their acrimonious split and legal troubles, John Oates called the longevity of their musical partnership with his former partner, Daryl Hall, a “miracle.”
Over five decades, the 76-year-old hitmaker and his musical partner performed as the songwriting team Hall & Oates.
In a recent interview with Variety, Hall, 77, did, however, disclose that he had parted from his bandmate, citing their continuing economic conflict as the reason. In a recent interview with People, Oates discussed the split, saying, “People drift apart after 50 years. And the fact it survived that long always seemed miraculous to me.
The guitarist and Hall, 77, started working together musically in 1970 and went on to co-write several popular songs, including Out Of Touch, Maneater, and I Can’t Go For That. The pair received multiple Grammy nominations and had several of their tracks reach the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
2014 saw the composers’ induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and 2016 saw them awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
But last year, when Hall sued his musical partner, their joint career came to an abrupt end.
The action was started when Oates tried to sell his bandmate’s part in Whole Oats Enterprises to music publisher Primary Wave Music without getting their consent.
Ultimately, Hall won a temporary restraining order against his partner, and before any deal was completed, their dispute must go into arbitration.
‘Never really’ having difficulty talking about creative issues with his former bandmate, Oates said, they were far more contentious when it came to money issues.
‘I suppose what happened was that our partnership was formed 50 years ago, and the documentation of that partnership was out of date and unrelated to the persons we became 50 years later,’ he said.
‘I have a lot of regard for the amount of music that we made,’ Oates said, reflecting lovingly on their past as a pair and adding that he has ‘no plans’ to perform with Hall at any point in the future.
On a 2023 Behind The Velvet Rope podcast episode, the guitarist discussed his breakup with his musical collaborator and said he had “moved on” from his time with Hall.
Oates then declared his excitement about pursuing his career in the future.
“I’m doing solo concerts and I’m really glad I can play new music now because it feels like a breath of fresh air for me.”
Friday will see the release of Reunion, the musician’s sixth solo album.