In a new conversation with The Times, Daryl Hall said he will never reunite with John Oates.
“That ship has gone to the bottom of the ocean,” Hall replied when asked if the duo could ever get back together. “I’ve had a lot of surprises in my life, disappointments, betrayals, so I’m kind of used to it.”
The two’s split started in November 2023 with a legal dispute. The problem began when Hall sued Oates for trying to sell his share of their business, Whole Oates Enterprises, without Hall’s approval. Hall also got a temporary restraining order against Oates.
“John and I did not have a creative relationship for decades; the last song I wrote with John was in 2000 and that was with somebody else,” Hall shared with Billboard in June 2024. “We toured and we toured and we toured, and it was very restrictive to me, and to John.”
The rocker added, “The real truth of it all is John just said one day he didn’t want to do it anymore. I said ‘OK,’ but the problem is (Oates) didn’t make the parting and breakup easy, and that’s where the difficulties lay and still lay, and that’s all it is.”
“I always say I’ve been a solo artist my whole life, I was just working with John, mostly,” Hall then revealed.
On the other hand, Oates seems okay with Hall & Oates being over. He’s also been working with other artists, like Vince Gill and Jerry Douglas, in recent years.
“As far as I’m concerned, I’ve moved on,” Oates told Rolling Stone in 2024 about the disbandment. “I feel like I have a new lease on my creative life.”
Formed in 1970, Hall & Oates became famous in the ’70s with albums like ‘Bigger Than Both of Us.’ The duo hit their peak in the early ’80s with albums like ‘Voices,’ ‘Private Eyes,’ and ‘H2O.’
Though they didn’t split until 2024, their last studio album came in 2006 with ‘Home for Christmas,’ and their last full album of original songs was ‘Do It for Love’ in 2003.
