Why Daryl Hall Filed a Restraining Order Against John Oates
The circumstances surrounding Daryl Hall’s restraining order against longtime music partner John Oates have been revealed.
Hall, 77, sued Oates, 75, over plans to sell his portion of their joint business venture, according to the Associated Press. Oates’ intentions to sell his portion of Primary Wave Music, an independent music publisher, allegedly violates the terms of their business contract. (The contract’s terms have not been publicly revealed.)
A judge in Nashville unsealed part of the lawsuit on Wednesday, November 22. Per the AP, the judge granted Hall a restraining order to temporarily block the sale during the ongoing legal proceedings. The judge ruled that Oates, and others involved in his trust, can’t close the sale of Whole Oats Enterprises LLP to a private investment firm until either an arbitrator in a separate case responds or the judge’s restraining order expires.
The judge’s ruling was issued on the same day that Hall filed his lawsuit. Us Weekly confirmed on Wednesday that Hall filed an undisclosed complaint and a motion for a temporary restraining order. A later order from the judge allowed more details to become available.
Neither Hall nor Oates have publicly addressed the legal drama. Us has reached out for comment.
The two musicians formed their eponymous band in 1970, going on to release 18 studio albums. Their final album, a holiday record, dropped in 2006. Hall and Oates last toured together in October 2022, one month after Hall downplayed their working relationship.
“I don’t have a partner. You say John Oates is my partner? … He’s my business partner. He’s not my creative partner,” Hall quipped during an appearance on Bill Maher’s “Club Random” podcast in September 2022. “John and I are brothers, but we are not creative brothers. We are business partners. We made records called Hall & Oates together, but we’ve always been very separate, and that’s a really important thing for me.”
He continued at the time: “We are not acrimonious in any way. We’re friends. We just have different directions and have had since about 1975.”
Hall & Oates’ music catalog was acquired by Primary Wave in 2007. By 2021, Hall seemingly regretted transferring the tracks’ ownership from BMC to Primary Wave.
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“Oh, in the early days, it got sold off for me and I didn’t get the money,” Hall told Sky News in May 2021, without mentioning a firm by name. “I have a bit of my publishing, but a lot of bad business was done in the early days — I’m a real rock and roll story when it comes to that kind of thing. Never sell your publishing — maybe if you’re, you know, 80 years old and you decided to retire, then you can sell your publishing, but I wouldn’t even suggest it then, I don’t believe in that concept. It’s all you have is that.”
Oates, for his part, recently told UltimateGuitar.com that their band would not make another record together. “I’d never say no to anything, but I doubt it. I think Daryl and I have moved beyond it, I really do,” he said during an interview published in July. “The future of Hall & Oates is in the past.”
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