![]() ![]() Leading up to this breakthrough/breakdown moment, Oates had been going through a rough patch mentally, emotionally, and financially, and something had to give. I don't know whether that was approval or recognition I have no idea. And he came right up to me, literally came right up to my face, and he went like this,” Oates laughs, making a violent slashing gesture across his upper lip. “I mean, if you ever saw up close, he's very powerful he's got penetrating eyes. John Oates in 2003.(Photo: Evan Agostini/Getty Images)īut then a random airport encounter that same day with jazz great Miles Davis indicated that Oates had made the right decision. It was kind of a cathartic, shedding-of-the-skin type of thing.” I spent the entire decade of the ‘90s into the 2000s totally clean-shaven, and I felt like I was reborn in a sense. And I didn't want to be that guy anymore. And the mustache, in a way, represented the old guy that I was. There was a lot of going on in my life, a lot of stress-induced things, and mental things, emotional things, that I was dealing with. So in the late ‘80s, I just decided it was time. And then, interestingly enough, I felt like I became a caricature of myself, and the mustache was kind of representative of that. Maybe I didn't like the way my lip looked, who knows? There's always a lot of deep-seated, hidden meanings behind things like that. I guess I was destined to have a mustache somehow or another. “I grew a mustache as soon as I graduated from my school. “You know, it's just one of those things,” Oates shrugs as he discusses his complex facial-hair journey. (Photo: Lynn Goldsmith/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images) Perhaps only Keri Russell’s Felicity Season 2 pixie chop or Metallica’s drastic Load-era haircuts have generated as much public shock as Oates’s shearing. This was a major decision on his part, because there was a time when he so resented his whiskers that he “ritualistically” shaved them off - so he could live his life bare-faced, virtually unrecognizable, and somewhat off the grid for many years. It’s a worthy cause that convinced Oates, who is open about his own metal health struggles while speaking with Yahoo, to grow out his once-lush ‘70s ‘stache. “I do have a wry sense of humor.”īut of course, there’s a serious side to this interview: Oates has teamed with Movember for the nonprofit’s annual fall campaign, when men grow mustaches to raise awareness and funds for men’s health issues like mental illness, suicide prevention, and testicular and prostate cancer. “I remember when I first spoke to the Movember people, when we started talking about being involved, the first thing I jokingly said was, ‘I guess Burt Reynolds wasn't available,’” the Hall & Oates legend tells Yahoo Entertainment. ![]() It’s that most magical time of year, Movember - and the ultimate spokesperson for the cause, the self-declared “patron saint of facial hair,” John Oates, has just joined forces with the leading men’s health charity of that name. ![]()
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