Why Daryl Hall Really Disliked The Term “Yacht Rock”

Daryl Hall isn’t shy about how he feels when it comes to the term yacht rock—and spoiler alert, he’s not a fan. During a guest appearance on the Broken Record podcast, the iconic singer made it clear he doesn’t take the label seriously.

“This is something I don’t understand. First of all, yacht rock was a fucking joke by two jerk offs in California and suddenly it became a genre,” Hall said bluntly. “I don’t even understand it. I never understood it.”

A Joke That Stuck

The term yacht rock was first coined in 2005 by comedians JD Ryznar, Hunter Stair, and Lane Farnham in their web series of the same name. The idea was to poke fun at smooth, mellow soft rock from the ‘70s and ‘80s. But what started as a joke has turned into a real musical category—and Hall wants no part of it. He explained:

“It’s just R&B.
“With maybe some jazz in there. It’s mellow R&B. It’s smooth R&B. I don’t see what the yacht part is.”

Hall & Oates Never Fit the Mold

Much of the frustration likely comes from how often Hall & Oates are lumped into the yacht rock crowd. Hall thinks their music was hard to label—and that’s exactly the point. He said:

“People misjudged us because they couldn’t label us.
“They always came up with all this kind of crap, soft rock and yacht rock and all this other nonsense. And none of it, none of it really describes anything that I do really.”

Still Going Strong—Without the Label

After parting ways with longtime partner John Oates in 2023 (a split that came with lawsuits over their catalog), Hall continues to perform solo. He’s currently touring with Squeeze frontman Glenn Tilbrook through the fall, still delivering the classics—just don’t call it yacht rock.