John Oates voted off âThe Masked Singer,â speculates on future with Daryl Hall

From the courtroom to network television, singer John Oates of Hall & Oates has been spending a lot of time in front of judges.

The “Sara Smile” artist was revealed to be a contestant on Wednesday’s episode of the singing competition show “The Masked Singer.” The appearance came amid his ongoing legal battle with his longtime musical partner Daryl Hall.

Oates acknowledged appearing on the show so that he could use his singing voice and not have it “connected to [his] past.”

It’s a past that has recently been the topic of discussion and litigation, as Hall sued Oates last month to block him from selling off his share of a joint venture to a third party. Hall alleged that Oates and his team committed the “ultimate partnership betrayal” by trying to sell his part of the business while telling Hall’s team that he wasn’t planning on selling, per the Associated Press.

In response, Oates filed a court declaration denying Hall’s claims of duplicitous dealings and alleged that his music collaborator has been an absent business partner.

When asked by EW if he could see a future in which he would perform again with Hall despite their legal troubles, Oates said, “Oh, you know what, I never say never to anything.”

Disguised as an overalls-wearing anteater, Oates was voted off the Fox show this week after performing a rendition of Chuck Berry’s hit “Johnny B. Goode.” Unsurprisingly, none of the show’s four judges — Nicole Scherzinger, Ken Jeong, Robin Thicke and Jenny McCarthy — were able to correctly guess that the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer was inside the goofy costume.

“I was really flattered when [the judges] started comparing me to some really great vocalists,” the 75-year-old musician told Entertainment Weekly. “People like John Cougar Mellencamp and Bryan Adams and Billy Joel and Bob Seger, all great singers who I really, really like. So that was flattering and fun.”

While he enjoyed the experience, the “Maneater” singer wasn’t always sold on his costume for the program.

“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,” he said. “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. And I’m like, ‘Oh, God, all right, sure. Why not?”

As far as performing with Hall again, he added, “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.”

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.