Daryl Hall, one half of the most successful pop duo in U.S. chart history, Hall & Oates, is suing John Oates and has been granted a restraining order against his longtime bandmate.
Hall filed the lawsuit November 16 in Nashville Chauncery Court, a court spokesperson confirmed to Deadline, but the documents — which are classified as a contract/debt matter — are under seal, so details are not known. Philadelphia magazine reports that the documents contained a request by Hall for a restraining order against Oates, which was granted and is set to begin on November 30.
Hall and Oates formed the duo Philadelphia in 1970. During their peak years of 1974-91 as Hall & Oates, the pair reached the U.S. Top 40 with 29 of their 33 singles charting on Billboard’s Hot 100. Six of the singles reached No. 1: “Rich Girl” (1977), “Kiss on My List” (1980), the two 1981 releases “Private Eyes” and “I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do)”, “Maneater” (1982) and “Out of Touch” (1984). Seven of their albums have been RIAA-certified platinum and six others gold.
Last year, in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Hall said: “I don’t have any plans to work with John. I mean, whatever. Time will tell.” While they had been recording together “before the pandemic,” he noted that “perceptions changed.”
“Life changed, everything changed,” Hall said. “I’m more interested in pursuing my own world. And so is John.”
Hall also has hinted that the two were not on the best of terms. On Bill Maher’s Club Random podcast last year, he said: “You think John Oates is my partner? … He’s my business partner. He’s not my creative partner.”
The duo was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2003, and officially sworn into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2014.