Private eyes are now prying into the inner workings of the legal rift between legendary soft-rock duo Hall and Oates.
Daryl Hall, 77, sued John Oates, 75, Oates’ wife, and another trustee earlier this month, alleging Oates’ plan to sell his side of a joint venture would violate their business agreement, court documents revealed.
The Nashville judge who temporarily blocked Oates’ maneuver on Wednesday ordered more documents in the case to be unsealed after the lawsuit filed under seal on Nov. 16 had obscured the details of the case.
Now, unsealed records show that Chancellor Russell Perkins issued a temporary restraining order against Oates and his trust to halt the sale of his share of Whole Oats Enterprises LLP to Primary Wave Music for 15 days or until an arbitrator makes a ruling.
The suit was first lodged after Oates performed solo shows in which he sang songs Hall took credit for writing. Sources privy to the conflict have told TMZ that the legal battle pertains to “the ground rules of who can sing what as a solo artist, along with money issues of course.”
Lawyers for Hall had moved to seal certain filings of the lawsuit, arguing it is a private matter between the singers, famous for 70s and 80s yacht rock hits like “You Make My Dreams (Come True)” and “Rich Girl.” Although Perkins ordered some of the filings unsealed, they did not reveal exactly what is at stake in the lawsuit.
In the suit, Hall’s lawyers claimed Oates’ and his team violated a confidentiality provision by sharing their business arrangement in a letter of intent to Primary Wave, which they say should legally negate the sale.
The “entire Unauthorized Transaction is the product of an indisputable breach of contract,” Hall alleged, according to filings.
The case will now be heard during a Nov. 30 court hearing.
Primary Wave has held a “significant interest” in the band’s catalog for over 15 years, the filings show.
In 2021, Hall told Sky News he was not happy with past arrangements, as he warned artists to hold onto their publishing rights, saying “all that you have is that.”
“Oh, in the early days, it got sold off for me and I didn’t get the money,” he said.
Hall and Oates met in Philadelphia in the late 60s, when they both attended Temple University. They went on to release 18 albums and notch 16 top-10 hits and 6 chart toppers, according to Billboard.
They were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2014.
“We have this incredibly good problem of having so many hits,” Oates said before the duo brought their show back on the road in 2021, after their tour was halted by COVID-19.
“Believe me, it’s not a chore to play those songs because they are really great.”
In 2015, the duo teamed up to sue a Brooklyn-based food company that was hawking a granola snack named Haulin’ Oats.
With Post wires
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