Back in the 1990s, Hall & Oates hit the road, which meant that rocker John Oates was often on tour.
But when he met his now-wife Aimee, she laid down the law – and it seems to have paid off, as the couple will celebrate their 30th anniversary in November.
“When Aimee and I first got married, [touring] was a boys’ club,” Oates, who released his sixth studio album Reunion last Friday, tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue. “When we got serious, she said, ‘Look, if we’re going to do this, we have to do it together as a family or it’s not going to work.'”
He continues: “It was hard for me to understand, but the reality was that she was 100% right.”
When Oates, 76, and Aimee welcomed son Tanner, now 28, the family kept their promise and took their son on a journey starting when he was just 5 weeks old.
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John and Aimee Oates in 1994.
Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection/Getty Images
“He was on the road for the rest of his life until he was 13,” says Oates. “We schooled him at home, we had teachers and things like that. When he was 13, he said, ‘That’s it. I don’t want to do that anymore. I want to be with the children. I want to be in school.’”
The Grammy-nominated musician jokes that he told Tanner he didn’t need to go to college because Oates was happy to hook him up with a job with his road crew.
“He said, ‘No, I’m going to college.’ And it is,” says Oates. “He’s his own man.”
Oates’ new album Reunion it features sweet songs like “I Found Love,” which was originally written before his wedding to Aimee in 1994. When asked what lessons his partnership with musical collaborator Daryl Hall taught him that have served him well in his marriage, Oates admits that Hall & Oates prepared him well.
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(LR) John Oates brother-in-law Osiris, sister Diane Oates-Lopez, Oates, dad Al Oates, son Tanner Oates and Aimee Oates.
Courtesy of John Oates
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“Partnership is the ultimate collaboration. It’s about compromise, it’s about sensitivity, it’s about trying to understand your role in the process,” he says. “Whether it’s a romantic partnership or a creative partnership in terms of songwriting…Part of the magic of being a good collaborator and partner is trying to understand what your role should be.”
Together, he and Hall have sold more than 80 million records and been nominated for five Grammy Awards. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014 and last performed together in 2022. The two are currently locked in legal limbo after Hall sued Oates in November over the proposed sale of his stake in their business partnership, something Oates calls “ boring, legal mumbo-jumbo.”
For more on John Oates, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands everywhere now.
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Source: HIS Education