Daryl Hall calls current musical partnership ‘more meaningful’ than the one he had with John Oates

Daryl Hall & John Oates‘ relationship seems irretrievably broken, after a business dispute led to Hall suing Oates in 2023 and accusing him of “betrayal.”  To add insult to injury, Hall tells the U.K. paper The Times that he’s now involved in a “more meaningful” musical relationship than the one he had for decades with Oates.

Hall’s current solo album, D, was made with Dave Stewart of Eurythmics, who co-produced the album and co-wrote most of the tracks. Asked about his relationship with Stewart in comparison to Oates, Hall says, “It’s more meaningful, a real collaborative relationship — and it’s based on maturity.”

In the interview, Hall also says it “was very frustrating” that people don’t realize how much of Hall & Oates’ music came from him alone.

“The songs with [John’s] lead vocal are the songs he wrote, and all the other ones, which is about 90 per cent, are the ones I wrote,” he says. When The Times offers that perhaps their musical partnership was similar to that of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley’s in Wham!, Hall agrees: “It’s closer to something like that.”

Hall also doesn’t think that he and Oates might resume working together. Asked by The Times if “that ship has sailed,” Hall says, “That ship has gone to the bottom of the ocean. I’ve had a lot of surprises in my life, disappointments, betrayals, so I’m kind of used to it.”