Daryl Hall, who is one-half of the iconic Grammy Award-winning songwriting duo Hall & Oates, has written more hits and garnered more plaques than his walls have room for. The 76-year-old Pennsylvania-born artist, who rose to popularity in the 1970s and 1980s, was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. He is known for songs like “Maneater” and “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do).”
Videos by American Songwriter
When American Songwriter caught up with Hall in 2022, he talked about his latest solo album, BeforeAfter. Known as one of the best soul singers, Hall has established himself as an icon in music. With all that on his resume, one might wonder what he has to say about life outside his music. What does he think about love, his craft, and the world at large? Let’s dive into the 20 best Daryl Hall quotes.
1. “Nobody’s going to sell 10 million records by not working hard.”
2. “I was just like a 21st century person waiting to be born, and this is the medium that I thrive in. And I feel stronger now than I did any time since I’ve been a teenager—I mean, musically, creatively.”
3. “In the early ’70s, I started to feel like Philadelphia soul was the black-sheep brother of rock and roll. I decided to try to get away from it.”
4. “I do a project, and then I move on.”
5. “I’m very enthused about everything. I have a lot to say and a lot of things I’m interested in.”
6. “I’ve been traveling around the world forever.”
7. “If you are a superstar, or whatever you want to call yourself, a person who’s had outrageous success, and you decide to go indie and tell the record companies to screw themselves? That takes a certain amount of courage. And bullheadedness, really.”
8. “Most artists try to avoid cliches, but it’s pretty hard to avoid them if you yourself end up being one.”
9. “Everybody who I ever cared about has told me that they like my music: Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Al Green, The Spinners, Smokey Robinson. Everybody that matters.”
10. “To write a good song, an artist has to draw from reality. There has to be some spark from realism that communicates a real feeling to someone else. You have to be real. Or you have to be a really good storyteller.”
11. “When you’re playing in front of people, everything is external. It’s all going from you out to an audience. When you’re in a studio, it’s very internalized, it’s going from the air through you into this meticulously crafted, layered piece of work.”
12. “Every artistic form has its golden age, and unfortunately, I think the golden age for whatever I do probably ended about 1990.”
13. “I always say the same thing—believe in what you do, do it, and don’t veer away from the truth of it.”
14. “If you work hard and you’re good, you can build something for yourself.”
15. “I’ve got a sense of humor. I’m a funny guy.”
16. “I knew that I would be making music for my whole life; as far as how many people respond to it, you can’t plan for that.”
17. “Any song I don’t feel good about, I shelve. Anything you ever hear me sing, it’s because I want to.”
18. “When I was a kid, I always looked up to people like B.B. King and Ray Charles.”
19. “I think Philadelphia has been underrated over the years as a musical region.”
20. “If you see me walking down the street, you’re gonna see the same guy as you do on stage, dressed the same, looking the same, and nothing changes. I’m just one person.”
Photo by Stuart Berg / Shorefire Media
