John Oates didn't let his legal dispute with longtime songwriting partner Daryl Hall get in the way of his recent appearance on Fox's The Masked Singer.
He performed "Johnny B. Goode" by Chuck Berry while dressed as an anteater for the episode that aired on the night of Dec. 13. The name of Oates' disguise rhymes with one of the biggest Hall & Oates hits, but no one on the panel was able to guess his identity.
The revelation came after songwriter performed 'Johnny B. Goode' on 'The Masked Singer' while dressed as an anteater.
"They were trying to make a connection between ‘Maneater’ and Anteater, but no one else seemed to get that for some reason, which I found kind of surprising," Oates told Entertainment Weekly. "That was the first thing I thought of."
The musician added that it took some convincing to get him into the cumbersome disguise featuring a straw hat, overalls and a giant rope-like snout. "To be honest with you, I didn’t really like the costume when I first saw the drawing of it, but they twisted my arm and convinced me that it would be cool," Oates said. "And I’m like, ‘oh, God, all right, sure. Why not?’"
Entertainment Weekly also asked Oates if he would ever consider performing with Hall again.
"Oh, you know what, I never say never to anything," the singer said. "I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I just want, right now, I’m focused on where I am in life and leading the best life I can and moving forward."
Hall filed the lawsuit against Oates in a Nashville court on Nov. 16. It accused Oates of trying to sell half of the duo's joint venture Whole Oats LLC to the music publishing company Primary Wave. The judge granted Hall a temporary restraining order to prevent Oates from completing the sale on Nov. 30.
Hall sued Oates in a Nashville court on Nov. 16.
"I believe that John Oates timed the Unauthorized Transaction to create the most harm to me," Hall said in a Nov. 29 court filing obtained by People. "His behavior has become adversarial and aggressive instead of professional and courteous."
Oates filed a response noting that he was "deeply hurt" by Hall's allegations.
The songwriter also spoke to Entertainment Weekly about his upcoming single "Get Your Smile On," which is slated for a Dec. 15 release.
The duo met in a Philadelphia elevator in 1967.
"It's a song that I actually wrote during COVID when I was trying to write something that was really positive," Hall said. "It's just a super simple song. The cool thing about it is it's a song that I actually recorded at home on my laptop that I played all the instruments and sang all the vocals and never went into a recording studio with it. It comes straight from my computer, right to your ears."
Oates added that any proceeds the track makes through downloads will be donated to Teen Cancer America, a non-profit that supports young people as they battle the disease.
He and Hall met in a Philadelphia elevator in 1967. The pair went on to become the most successful songwriting duo of all time with six platinum certified albums and several singles that made it to the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100.
