A-ha frontman Morten Harket diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Morten Harket of A-ha performs on stage during the annual Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Telenor Arena outside Oslo, Norway on Dec 11, 2015.
PHOTO: REUTERS
OSLO – Morten Harket, the lead singer of Norwegian pop band A-ha, whose single Take On Me (1985) remains one of the most popular songs from the 1980s, said on June 4 that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
In a statement on the group’s website and confirmed by record label Sony Music, the 65-year-old frontman and former heart-throb said he had undergone several rounds of brain surgery and that he was managing the symptoms of the disease.
Parkinson’s causes deterioration in the brain’s nervous system, leading to tremors and other symptoms that can become progressively worse over time. The disease can be treated with surgery and medication, but there is no cure.
Harket said he took medicine to manage his symptoms. In June 2024, he travelled to the United States, where surgeons at the Mayo Clinic implanted, in the left side of his brain, electrodes that receive electrical impulses from a small pacemaker-like device in his upper chest. He underwent the same procedure in December for the right side of his brain.
The treatment, known as deep brain simulation, is an established treatment for Parkinson’s and has helped keep Harket’s symptoms in check.
Known for his wide vocal range, Harket said he did not know if he would be able to perform again.
Problems with his voice “are one of many grounds for uncertainty about my creative future”, he said. The dopamine supplements that he takes affect his voice, but his underlying symptoms become more pronounced if he does not take them, he added.
Harket, who has released six solo albums, said he has worked on songs in recent years.
“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,’” he said, adding that it was difficult to balance medication and managing side effects of the treatment.
“I’m trying the best I can to prevent my entire system from going into decline.”
A-ha were formed in Oslo in 1982 by Harket and his friends Paul Waaktaar-Savoy and Magne Furuholmen. The band saw a global breakthrough in 1985 with their debut album Hunting High And Low, which yielded several hits such as Take On Me and The Sun Always Shines On TV. Their most recent studio album, True North, was issued in 2022.
Take On Me was recently featured in the second season of HBO’s hit series The Last Of Us (2023 to present), when the main character Ellie (played by Bella Ramsey) performed an acoustic version of the song. REUTERS, NYTIMES
