Daryl Hall and John Oates have resolved their bitter legal battles in private.
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The Hall & Oates pair have been embroiled in a legal battle after Hall announced he was suing Oates after claiming that he was left “blindsided” by his plan to sell a business stake in November 2023 – which Oates described as “inaccurate”.
Per a statement obtained by Rolling Stone, Hall’s lawyers shared that the musician’s claims against Oates “have been adjudicated in arbitration. Given the entry of final judgment in arbitration, plaintiffs will be contemporaneously filing a notice of voluntary dismissal with the court.”
Details surrounding the arbitration have not been revealed, and it is not clear when the outcome was finalised, although Hall’s lawyers filed a status report on Monday (August 12) in Nashville.
The 2023 lawsuit saw Hall accuse his bandmate of making a “completely clandestine and bad faith move” by trying to sell a share of their business without Hall’s consent. It also claimed that he was only told about the deal to sell half of Whole Oats Enterprises (WOE) to Primary Wave just two days before he was set to leave on a month-long tour.
Hall objected to the sale as he disagreed with the “business model” of Primary Wave, and thought a sale could do “unimaginable” harm to the trademarks, personal name, royalties and online properties of Whole Oats Enterprises.
Since the bitter dispute, both Hall and Oates have confirmed that a reunion between the two will never happen. Hall said in March this year: “That ship has gone to the bottom of the ocean.”
Amidst their legal battle, Oates reflected on their relationship in December 2023, saying that although he believes Hall & Oates’ catalogue “will stand the test of time”, he has also “moved on”.
The musician also shot down any plans of a reunion. After being asked if there was an official end date to their partnership, Oates replied: “You can ask Daryl the same question. But, yes. As far as I’m concerned, I’ve moved on. I feel like I have a new lease on my creative life.”
Oates added he was “open” to staying friends with Hall, calling him “an amazing individual”. “He is one of the great, great songwriters of all time, and without a doubt, one of the great singers of all time. I would never say anything negative about him.
“But we have a different strategy for our lives, and we have a different strategy for our business lives as well as our personal lives. And that’s that, so be it. We’re old guys. We deserve to be allowed to do whatever we want to do.”
