Daryl Hall Dimisses Legal Claims Against John Oates

Daryl Hall dismissed his claims against John Oates and his trust.

According to court documents reviewed by PEOPLE, Hall voluntarily dismissed his claims without prejudice in Chancery Court for Davidson County, Tenn., on Monday, Aug. 12. 

The legal dispute between Hall, 78, and Oates, 77, dated back to November 2023 when Hall was granted a restraining order against Oates, who allegedly planned to sell his share of a joint business venture to a third party, Primary Wave Music.

Hall claimed the sale would violate a previously discussed and confidential business agreement over Whole Oats Enterprises LLP (WOE) dated October 2021 and cause “imminent irreparable harm.”

Per the complaint obtained by PEOPLE, Hall claimed the transaction was “unauthorized and void” and a breach of contract.

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Hall alleged that he filed the restraining order against Oates to end the Primary Wave deal “so as to maintain the status quo of WOE before there is a change in control of the partnership in violation of the terms of the Agreement.”

The Associated Press reported in 2023 that Primary Wave already owned “significant interest” in the duo’s song catalog for 15 years.

Exact details of the “private dispute” were sealed, per Hall’s attorney, and concerned the interpretation of the agreement’s terms. “This is not a matter of legitimate public interest, although the parties are well known.”

Oates told PEOPLE in May 2024 his working relationship with Daryl had minimal problems when it came to making music but a strained relationship on the business side. 

“I think what happened was our partnership was established 50 years ago, and the documentation of that partnership was outdated and completely irrelevant to the people we became 50 years later,” he said at the time. “And when it was time to reevaluate how to modernize and how to make that partnership function in a better way, we had changed so radically as people that there was really no way to compromise on that.”

In February, Hall told The Times that a reunion with his longtime music partner was unlikely. “That ship has gone to the bottom of the ocean,” he told the publication. “I’ve had a lot of surprises in my life, disappointments, betrayals, so I’m kind of used to it.

Hall also claimed he wrote most of the duo’s songs. “The songs with his lead vocal are the songs he wrote, and all the other ones, which is about 90 percent, are the ones I wrote,” he added at the time. 

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Hall & Oates released their first album in 1972. They were nominated for five Grammy Awards throughout their career and are best known for their songs “You Make My Dreams,” “Maneater” and “Rich Girl.”