Daryl Hall confirms Hall & Oates is over amid legal battle: 'Some things just change'

"Difficulties can be made from things that aren't difficult, and then it goes to a place where it can never come back from," the singer said of the iconic duo.

A Hall & Oates reunion? Daryl Hall can’t go for that — no can do.

The “Rich Girl” singer has confirmed that he’ll never reunite with his former music partner John Oates.

When asked in a new interview with Variety if fans have "seen the last" of the iconic pop duo, Hall responded simply, “That is correct.”

The singer said that his partnership with Oates fizzled out long ago and that now they’re effectively out of touch. “I haven’t had a creative relationship with John for at least 25 years,” he said. “We didn’t write songs together. We didn’t do anything together except perform live shows. We had an arrangement that I couldn’t play my solo songs on stage with Hall & Oates — and now I get to.”

Representatives for Oates did not immediately respond to Entertainment Weekly’s request for comment. However, Oates told Rolling Stone in April, “As far as I’m concerned, I’ve moved on. I feel like I have a new lease on my creative life.”

He added, “Daryl and I have always called ourselves Daryl Hall and John Oates because we always wanted to be perceived as two individuals who work together. That was very important to us. If you look at the albums, you’ll see that on every album. And so this is the ultimate expression of that.”

But Oates also said he’s “always open” to rekindling their friendship.

“Daryl Hall is an amazing individual,” he told Rolling Stone. “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.”

Hall sued his ex-collaborator in November 2023 after Oates attempted to sell his share of their joint venture, Whole Oats Enterprises LLP, to Primary Wave Music. Hall’s court filing called the move an “ultimate partnership betrayal,” while Oates’ lawyer Tim Warnock said, “Mr. Oates has proceeded exactly as he was allowed to proceed… Mr. Hall could have done the exact same thing himself,” reported The New York Times.

In his new interview with Variety, Hall said Oates’ sale attempt was a shock. “It hit me by surprise,” he said. “I don’t know, man — all I can say is people change and sometimes you don’t really know someone like you thought you did. Difficulties can be made from things that aren’t difficult, and then it goes to a place where it can never come back from. It’s unfortunate and untimely, but some things just change. People rewrite history and harbor thoughts you had no idea about.”

As one of the most successful duos in American pop history, Hall and Oates recorded 18 studio albums together and had six No. 1 singles on the Billboard charts: "Rich Girl," "Kiss on My List," "Private Eyes," "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)," "Maneater," and "Out of Touch." Hall has released five solo studio albums and is working on a sixth, while Oates has released six solo studio albums to date.

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Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.