John Oates Speaks Out Amid Legal Battle With Daryl Hall, Calls for ‘Communal Reflection’

Oates’s message comes after his bandmate Daryl Hall filed an undisclosed complaint against him earlier this month, alongside putting forth a motion for a temporary restraining order. The restraining order will start on Nov. 30, with the details of the lawsuit remaining relatively scarce.

Hall openly criticized Oates during an appearance on Bill Maher’s Club Random podcast last year. As mentioned by TMZ, Hall said, “You think John Oates is my partner? … He’s my business partner. He’s not my creative partner.” He also described Oates as his “brother” but not his “creative brother.”

Ultimately, Hall claimed they were business partners with the music and nothing more. “We made records called Hall & Oates together, but we’ve always been very separate, and that’s a really important thing for me,” he said.

The duo has never officially split up, but they haven’t released an album together since their 2006 holiday record, Home for Christmas. Throughout their career as recording artists, which started in 1970 after they met in 1967, they released 18 studio albums and scored six No. 1 singles.