Legendary rock duo’s longwinded legal battle resolved
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Daryl Hall and John Oates have resolved their dispute over a Hall & Oates business partnership through arbitration, reaching a private ending after details of their rift went public in court documents filed in a 2023 lawsuit by Hall against Oates , according to a court filing Monday.
In Monday's status report, attorneys for Hall noted the case received a final judgment in arbitration and they filed a proposed order for the judge, Nashville Chancellor Russell Perkins, to dismiss the case. In mid-July, Perkins ordered Hall's attorneys to offer an update in the case, which had last seen a public filing in December 2023.
It's unclear when the arbitration process was finalized, and details were not revealed about the arbitration outcome.
Robb Harvey, an attorney for Hall, declined to comment. Representatives for Oates did not immediately respond to The Associated Press' request for comment.
Known for their fusion of rock, soul and R&B, Hall & Oates officially formed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1972.
The duo collected six No. 1 singles on the Hot 100, including "Out of Touch," "Maneater" and "Rich Girl." As the best-selling music duo in music history, Hall & Oates has more than a dozen gold and platinum-selling singles and albums .
The group was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2014 , got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in September 2016 and was ranked 99th on VH1's list of 100 greatest artists of all time in 2010 .
While Hall & Oates officially broke up in May 2024, according to Variety , troubles between the duo escalated a year prior.
In November 2023, Hall filed a lawsuit against Oates and his trust due to contractual and financial disputes, Philly Magazine reported at the time . In the suit, Hall accused Oates of "the ultimate partnership betrayal" for planning to sell his share of the duo's publishing to Primary Wave Music, according to The Guardian .
When asked if he had a specific reason for wanting to sell his half of the Hall & Oates catalog, Oates previously told MassLive , "Yeah, but I can't go into it."
However, Oates did say that his personal relationship with Hall has essentially disappeared.
"Unfortunately, the legal system has come in between us," the musician said. "It's based around contractual and a business partnership that was established over 50 years ago that has been outdated. And trying to change it, there were some legal issues that needed to be worked through and we're almost finished working through it."
Hall also recently said that he has no plans of repairing his friendship with his former bandmate, telling The Times in February that the duo's longwinded legal battle has ruined their chances of making amends.
"That ship has gone to the bottom of the ocean," Hall told The Times. "I've had a lot of surprises in my life, disappointments, betrayals, so I'm kind of used to it."
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Read the original article on MassLive .
