High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Hall & Oates are an American musical duo composed of Daryl Hall and John Oates. They achieved their greatest fame in the late 1970s and early to mid-1980s. Both sing and play instruments. They specialized in a fusion of rock and roll and rhythm and blues styles, which they dubbed "rock and soul." Critics Stephen Thomas Erlewine and J. Scott McClintock write, "at their best, Hall & Oates` songs were filled with strong hooks and melodies that adhered to soul traditions without being a slave to them by incorporating elements of new wave and hard rock." On some tours and dates, established soul and blues artists performed in the duo`s band. While much of the duo`s reputation is due to its sustained pop-chart run in the 1980s, Hall & Oates are also respected for their ability to cross stylistic boundaries.