John Oates Reveals the Hall & Oates Song He Wants to Be Remembered for (Exclusive)

John Oates knows a thing or two about songwriting.

The 77-year-old Hall & Oates musician is opening up about his vast catalog of music as he releases new solo work into the world with “Enough Is Enough,” a collaboration with Clyde and Gracie Lawrence, out this Friday, June 20.

Looking back, if Oates had to reflect and choose a single song from his discography to be remembered by, he knows which one he’d pick.

“I probably go back to ‘She’s Gone,’ the song that Daryl [Hall] and I did in the early ’70s because it has stood the test of time, and that’s the mark of a great song,” he tells PEOPLE at the 2025 Songwriters Hall of Fame induction ceremony in N.Y.C. on Thursday, June 12.

Originally released on the duo’s 1973 album Abandoned Luncheonette, “She’s Gone” reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart three years later. The song is included on Rolling Stone’s best 500 songs of all time list.

“When you’re honoring songwriters here at the Songwriters Hall of Fame, you’re honoring songs that are legendary and songs that are timeless, and that’s the key,” he adds of longevity.

These days, Oates remains quite the active songwriter. Just about a year after releasing his last album, Reunion, he’s gearing up to release “Enough Is Enough” with the Lawrence siblings.

“I got turned on to them, and I started listening to their albums, and I really got inspired,” he said of Clyde and Gracie, who perform in the band Lawrence. “I was sitting at my alone one day and I said, ‘Boy, I wish I could write a song that sounded like Lawrence.’ That was kind of a goal I set for myself, so I did, and when I did I said, ‘Well, you know, this kind of does sound like them.'”

At the time, Oates wasn’t able to come up with a second verse for the song. “So, I took one of their verses and put it in my song,” he explains. “I sent it to them, and I said, ‘What do you think?’ And they loved it and they said, ‘Let’s do it together.'”

“Since then, we’ve become friends,” he says. “We’ve done a show together, and they’re amazing.”

Oates declares the “Whatcha Want” band is “everything that’s good about young pop music.”

Despite spending quite a long time in a duo himself, Oates didn’t have any guidance for the Lawrence siblings while working together. “I don’t give advice to anybody, but especially not them,” he says. “They’re a brother and sister team. They know what they’re doing.”

“They’re very, very professional and they’re so talented,” he adds of Lawrence. “They don’t need my help. I’m just thrilled that we could do something together.”