Daryl Hall is not losing sleep over his public rift with longtime partner John Oates, instead taking the opportunity to relish in his new professional freedom.
“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 told Billboard. “We toured and we toured and we toured, and it was very restrictive to me, and to John. 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.”
News of the duo’s schism went public last November, when Hall filed a lawsuit (and obtained a temporary restraining order) against Oates in an attempt to block Oates from selling his share in their joint venture to Primary Wave Music, claiming it would violate the terms of the duo’s business agreement. Hall said he was “blindsided” by Oates’ actions and called them the “ultimate business betrayal,” while Oates said he was “deeply hurt“ by his partner’s accusations.
Both parties now appear to be on the same page, publicly stating that Hall & Oates are done for good.
READ MORE: Top 10 Hall & Oates Songs From the ’70s
Daryl Hall Finds Renewed Solo-Artist Status Liberating
Hall just released a new solo album titled D, his first since 2011’s Laughing Down Crying. But he told Billboard that he’s long held his career in the same regard: ”I always say I’ve been a solo artist my whole life, I was just working with John, mostly.”
He also told the publication that he feels liberated to be on his own, as he now gets to focus on his entire catalog as he sees fit. “I can’t speak for John ’cause I haven’t spoken to him in a long, long time, but I think that’s how he feels, too,” he said. “And good on both of us. I can still play all the songs that I wrote over the years, under my own name as well as under the Hall & Oates name. It frees me, really. It frees me up.”