Morten Harket, a-ha Frontman, Announces Parkinson's Diagnosis: 'I Use Whatever Works'

Morten Harket, the frontman of Norwegian pop band a-ha — famous for their worldwide smash "Take on Me" — has announced he has Parkinson's disease.

Via an interview posted to the band's official site, a-ha.com, Harket, 65, says he was diagnosed some time ago and has been receiving treatment, but is no longer singing — for now.

"I don’t feel like singing," he tells the band's biographer, Jan Omdahl, "and for me that’s a sign. I’m broad-minded in terms of what I think works; I don’t expect to be able to achieve full technical control. The question is whether I can express myself with my voice. As things stand now, that’s out of the question. But I don’t know whether I’ll be able to manage it at some point in the future.”

He says he's at peace with the diagnosis, but feared what would happen if he went public sooner.

"Acknowledging the diagnosis wasn’t a problem for me; it’s my need for peace and quiet to work that has been stopping me. I’m trying the best I can to prevent my entire system from going into decline," he said. "It’s a difficult balancing act between taking the medication and managing its side effects. There’s so much to weigh up when you’re emulating the masterful way the body handles every complex movement, or social matters and invitations, or day-to-day life in general.”

He underwent surgery a year ago to place electrodes into his brain to send signals to a pacemaker in his chest. This DBS (deep brain stimulation) is considered an advanced treatment, and has helped him overcome most of his symptoms — other than issues with his voice, a difficult change for a man famed for his piercing falsetto and extended notes. The band's U.K. Top 20 hit "Summer Moved On" contains a note that spans 20.2 seconds, a record.

As for his future, he says with optimism, "I was always meant to do different things, but I’ve ended up with a fairly permanent position as singer in a band. When I say that my identity isn’t about being a singer, that’s my direct response. It comes straight from the heart. People associate me with it, naturally enough, and I realize that. I see singing as my responsibility, and at certain moments I think it’s absolutely fantastic that I get to do it. But I’ve got other passions too, I have other things that are just as big a part of me, that are just as necessary and true.”

His message to his concerned fans is similarly uplifting: “Don’t worry about me. Find out who you want to be — a process that can be new each and every day. Be good servants of nature, the very basis of our existence, and care for the environment while it is still possible to do so. Spend your energy and effort addressing real problems, and know that I am being taken care of.”

In spite of often being referred to as one-hit wonders in the U.S. (in spite of having two Top 20 hits), a-ha is a worldwide phenomenon with incredible longevity. The band has had 18 Top 40 hits in the U.K. and 21 in their native Norway, including the singles "Take on Me" (1985) — buoyed by what has been called the best music video of all time and sampled heavily in the 2012 smash "Feel This Moment" by Pitbull feat. Christina Aguilera — "The Sun Always Shines on TV" (1985), "Hunting High and Low" (1986), "I've Been Losing You" (1986), "Cry Wolf" (1986), and the Bond theme "The Living Daylights" (1987).

They have released 11 studio albums between 1985 and 2022, and have toured extensively, including as recently as 2022.