John Oates was revealed as The Anteater on Fox’s The Masked Singer Wednesday night.
After removing the head of his costume, Oates said, “I’ve done a lot of crazy stuff my career. This is one of the best things I’ve ever done.”
During his time on the show, John sang hits like Chuck Berry‘s “Johnny B. Goode,” Backstreet Boys‘ “I Want It That Way,” Marc Cohn‘s “Walking In Memphis” and Justin Timberlake‘s “Can’t Stop the Feeling!”
Following his unmasking, Oates announced on Instagram that he has a new single coming out: “Get Your Smile On” arrives Friday.
Speaking with Billboard, Oates says he wasn’t crazy about the Anteater costume, but then, “I thought maybe it was a subtle connection between ‘Maneater’ and Anteater, which I thought might be a subtle clue without being a clue.”
“At a certain point they convinced me it’s cool, but I’m still not sure it’s true.”
About his new single, Oates said, “It’s a song I wrote during COVID — I wanted to write something really positive — and this is a great time to put it out, with all proceeds from the download of the song going to Teen Cancer America.”
Asked if the show had been a “distraction” from his current legal battle with his musical partner Daryl Hall, Oates said, “Any time I can talk about music and not the other stuff, that’s better.” When Billboard expressed hope that he and Daryl might perform together again one day, John said, “Yup, we’ll see.”
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