Daryl Hall is suing John Oates.
The pop and R&B duo formed in Philadelphia in 1970 has forged one of the most successful alliances in musical history. In their heyday — between 1974 and 1991 — the partners scored 29 Top 40 hits and six that reached number one. They’ve been inducted together into both the Songwriters and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and are generally considered the most commercially successful pop music duo of all time.
But all is not well in Hall and Oates land.
On Nov. 16, Hall filed a lawsuit against Oates in court in Nashville. Philadelphia Magazine reported the news after being posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, by Tennessee-based Axios reporter Nate Rau last week.
What is the dispute dividing the duo, who first met in an elevator at the Adelphi Ballroom in West Philadelphia in 1967 while leading their own bands?
That is unknown. The file is sealed. It can only be seen by “Private Eyes,” so to speak. So we don’t know if the partners have, in fact, grown “Out of Touch,” to quote another 1980s chart-topping hit. Presumably, the lawsuit was filed in a Nashville Chancery Court because that’s where Oates lives.
Representatives for Hall, Oates, and Hall & Oates as a group, were contacted by The Inquirer for comment but had yet to respond at time of publishing.
In 2017, 2018, and 2021, Hall & Oates headlined their own Hoagie Nation festival in Philadelphia. The first two years were held at the Festival Pier on the Delaware River waterfront, and then in 2021, it moved to the Mann Center, where it appeared to be poised to take its place alongside the Roots Picnic as an annual event.
But the fest wasn’t staged in either of the last two years. The duo, who have worked together and apart for decades, played only a handful of dates in 2022, including one at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, and none this year.
Meanwhile, they’ve been busy individually.
Particularly Hall. He’s been touring with fellow Philadelphia Todd Rundgren as an opening act, with upcoming shows this week in Japan and the Philippines. His webcast, Live From Daryl’s House, relaunched this month from its home base in Pawling, N.Y., with episodes featuring Glenn Tilbrook, Robert Fripp, and Lisa Loeb.
Oates is an active member of the creative community in Nashville, and appeared at the Americana Music Honors show in September. He has released a series of singles this year, the latest of which is “Too Late to Break Your Fall.”