Daryl Hall on the official end of Hall & Oates: 'It hit me by surprise'

After seemingly being blindsided by his former partner John Oates ' disinterest in continuing on together, Daryl Hall has confirmed that the Hall & Oates songwriting relationship has officially ended.

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Speaking exclusively with Variety , Daryl Hall recently revealed that “It hit [him] by surprise,” when John Oates decided to divest his holdings within their longtime partnership last year when looking to sell his half of their jointly owned Whole Oats Enterprises.

“I don’t know, man -- all I can say is people change and sometimes you don’t really know someone like you thought you did," he adds. "Difficulties can be made from things that aren’t difficult, and then it goes to a place where it can never come back from. It’s unfortunate and untimely, but some things just change. People rewrite history and harbor thoughts you had no idea about.”.

Hall continued, “I haven’t had a creative relationship with John for at least 25 years. We didn’t write songs together, we didn’t do anything together except perform live shows. We had an arrangement that I couldn’t play my solo songs onstage with Hall & Oates -- and now I get to.” When pressed if that meant the group was finished, he added, “That is correct.”

Moving on, Hall’s forthcoming sixth solo studio album D , set for release on June 21, will see him reunite with longtime collaborator and fellow Rock Hall inductee Dave Stewart , “My shadow partner since 1984,” Hall says. “We’re best friends. This was a real duo album, two people coming together, understanding one another and writing songs -- most of them were written on the spot. I had ideas and Dave enhanced them. It’s a real 50-50 project. Dave and I have a real partnership and have had for a long time.”

Listen to the first single from D , “Can’t Say No to You” above, and read the full chat with Daryl Hall right here .

Daryl Hall is also getting set to hit the road with Elvis Costello & the Imposters and Charlie Sexton , kicking off on June 2 with dates scheduled for Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York City, and more through July 25. See the full list of dates below and grab your tickets HERE .