Daryl Hall Not Losing Sleep Over Split from John Oates

Daryl Hall released D, his first new solo album in 11 years, last Friday (June 21). Hall worked on the new album with the Eurythmics' Dave Stewart, who Hall referred to as his "shadow partner since 1984" in a May interview with Variety.

The album represents the first new release from Hall since his very public split from John Oates. Despite being billed as a duo, Hall said in a new interview with Billboard, "I always say I’ve been a solo artist my whole life, I was just working with John, mostly."

Hall says the split with Oates "frees me," but noted that Oates "didn't make the parting and breakup easy."

In November 2023, Hall filed a lawsuit against Oates and requested a restraining order, much to the shock of fans and the music world at large.

Little was known about the lawsuit until a handful of days later, when the Associated Press (AP) reported Hall's restraining order on Oates was part of a larger legal issue involving a sale of the Hall & Oates catalog and other business interests. This sale by Oates allegedly violates the terms of an existing agreement he's had with Hall.

At the time, the AP noted, "A Nashville chancery court judge issued the temporary restraining order on Nov. 16, writing that Oates and others involved in his trust can’t move to close the sale of their share of Whole Oats Enterprises LLP to Primary Wave IP Investment Management LLC until an arbitrator in a separately filed case weighs in on the deal, or until the judge’s order expires — typically within 15 days, unless a judge extends the deadline."

Little else is known about the terms of the existing business agreement between Hall and Oates. However, the AP also reported that Primary Wave IP Investment Management LLC has owned "significant interest" in the Hall and Oates catalog for the past 15 years.

In May, Rolling Stone published an interview with Oates, who also said Hall & Oates was over.

"You can ask Daryl the same question, but yes, as far as I'm concerned, I've moved on," said Oates.

The formerly mustachioed half of one of music's most successful duos also noted that the pandemic helped him step back and reexamine what he wants to do with his career. Oates talked about how much he enjoyed doing more philanthropic music work, like partnering with Feeding America for a charity livestream.

Oates also touched on how it was "no longer interesting" to continue playing the same hits as he's done for decades. While he says those songs will "live forever," he did admit, "I just wanted to do something else."

Oates doesn't rule out performing with Hall again or potentially mending their lengthy friendship. He said he "would never say anything negative about [Hall]," but he also said the two of them differ personally and professionally and that they both "deserve to be allowed to do whatever we want to do."