A-ha Frontman Morten Harket Has Parkinson's Disease

06-05-2025

A-ha, best known for their massive 1980s hit "Take On Me", have announced that their frontman Morten Harket is battling Parkinson's Disease. The band shared the following from their biographer Jan Omdahl:

You know him as a-ha's iconic frontman, a divinely gifted singer, reluctant pop star, solo artist, songwriter, eccentric thinker, father of five and a grandfather too, but in recent years Morten Harket has also been a man battling his own body. This isn't the sort of news anyone wants to deliver to the world, but here it is: Morten has Parkinson's disease.

"I've got no problem accepting the diagnosis. With time I've taken to heart my 94-year-old father's attitude to the way the organism gradually surrenders: 'I use whatever works'".

We've travelled down to the summer house Morten and his partner Inez Andersson refurbished on Norway's south coast. As a-ha's biographer I've been asked to contribute an article to a-ha.com about Morten's condition, which has until now remained strictly private. A few people in his immediate circle know that he is ill, but the unpredictable consequences of going public with the illness have led him to hold off on making an announcement.

"Part of me wanted to reveal it. Like I said, 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. 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."

Parkinson's disease is caused by the loss of dopamine-producing cells in the brain, and it affects areas of the midbrain that control movement and manage communication between neurons in the brain and muscles. Although the disease is not fatal, the patient's condition gradually worsens over time. In Norway it is estimated that around 13,000 people have the disease, while worldwide at least 10 million people are affected. It is the most widespread - and the fastest-spreading - neurological condition in the world. Read more here