John William Oates (born April 7, 1949) is an American rock, R&B and soul guitarist, musician, songwriter and producer best known as half of the rock and soul duo Hall & Oates (with Daryl Hall).
Oates, whose main role in the duo was as guitarist, co-wrote much of their output, including "Sara Smile" (with Daryl Hall - a song that refers to Hall's then-girlfriend, Sara Allen), "You Make My Dreams" (with Allen & Hall), "She's Gone" (with Hall), "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)" (with Allen & Hall), "Maneater" (with Allen & Hall), "Out of Touch" (with Hall), and "Adult Education" (with Hall & Allen). He also sang lead vocals on several singles that did not make it to the Top 10, such as "How Does It Feel to Be Back", "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" (which was a remake of the 1965 song performed by The Righteous Brothers and written by Phil Spector, Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil, on which he shared lead vocals with Hall) and "Possession Obsession" (written with Allen & Hall). In addition to his work with Hall, Oates co-wrote and sang back-up on the song "Electric Blue" by the band Icehouse which was a Billboard Top Ten hit.
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