Hall & Oates member finally basking in his own spotlight: ‘It’s fantastic’

Legendary rock duo Hall & Oates may no longer be together because of a legal dispute between its members, but one of the bandmates says this has given him the opportunity to fully devote himself to his solo career for the first time.

“I was never really giving it my full, 100% commitment,” John Oates told MassLive about his solo career. “Now, I’m 100% committed to it and it’s fantastic. I can really feel like I can enjoy what I’m doing at my own pace and set my own schedule.”

The 76-year-old musician has released seven solo albums over the course of 22 years, his first being “Phunk Shui” in 2002, and toured numerous times as a solo act.

Oates will perform at The Cabot in Beverly on Saturday, Aug. 24, and will be at Dreamland Concert Series on Nantucket Sunday, Aug. 25.

When Oates first started touring on his own, people expected him to play Hall & Oates’ songs, something that “really fell flat,” he said. But as Oates put out more of his own music and went on his own tours, people’s expectations changed.

“I decided I’m just going to do what I do and eventually build my own audience, and that’s what’s happened over the years,” he said. “Now my audience is really open-minded and they actually don’t come to hear those songs. They come to hear whatever the heck I’m doing.”

Oates does still play a handful of songs from his time with former bandmate Hall, but most of the songs are from the band’s early days of Hall & Oates that Oates considers the most important.

“I play a couple songs from ‘Abandoned Luncheonette’ from the early ‘70s because it was a very influential album and I think without ‘Abandoned Luncheonette’ [Hall] and I wouldn’t even have had a career,” Oates said. “The ‘80s hits were so ubiquitous with MTV and all that, everybody knows about that. But very few people know really how we got there and how we got there, I think, is more interesting.”

However, Oates said playing without Hall is entirely different because the duo was playing much larger venues together than Oates is now. Therefore Oates’ current tour is specifically designed for smaller, more intimate venues where the musician can share his own musical journey.

“I like to give people an idea of who I am as a musician,” he said. “Everyone knows me from Hall & Oates, [but] very few people really know who I am. And so this has given me a chance to really make a personal statement.”

This seems to be working in his favor, as Oates said he still gets a warm reception from fans old and new.

“All I know is that at the end of the show, they give me a standing ovation — that’s good enough for me,” Oates told MassLive about his audiences’ reaction to his shows.

“It’s an interesting blend,” Oates said about his current fanbase. “It’s a lot of older fans who have followed me and, I think, kind of have been able to discern who I am within the Hall & Oates thing. But then there’s a lot of younger fans who have discovered me on social media.”

Oates is currently on tour, including in Massachusetts this weekend, in support of his ninth studio album, “Reunion.” The musician considers “Reunion,” which was released in May, to be his most cohesive, coherent and personal project yet.

“I think it really is coming from a certain point of view from my songwriting and from my performance. It’s mature. It is thoughtful,” he said. “It’s about seeing the horizon. It’s about knowing that there is a horizon out there. It’s about honoring family and things like that and honoring the past.”

Oates’ past includes more than 50 years of friendship with Daryl Hall, whom he met in 1967 when Oates was 18.

Debuting in 1972, Hall & Oats 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.

“To me, it’s a miracle. To be able to stay together for over 50 years,” Oates said about the band’s career. “To create a body of work that will stand the test of time. To affect people’s lives. To be part of maybe what was one of the greatest decades in popular music, the ‘80s, and be at the top of it. I mean, these are things that people would only dream about.”

However, Hall & Oates officially broke up in May, according to Variety, after Hall filed a lawsuit against Oates and his trust due to contractual and financial disputes in November 2023.

While the case was initially confidential, the week after, Hall filed a declaration accusing 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 told MassLive, “Yeah, but I can’t go into it.” But 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.”

Looking back at his time with Hall & Oates, Oates doesn’t regret a thing, except for how his relationship with Hall ended.

“I am very proud. I look back with fondness and a great appreciation on what we were able to achieve together,” he said. “I wouldn’t be able to do what I’m doing now without that as part of my history.”

Oates added, “I’ve moved on totally, and I’m very happy with where I’m sitting right now and I hope [Hall] is too.”

This post was originally published on this site