Morten Harket

The trio, comprising lead vocalist Harket, guitarist Paul Waaktaar-Savoy (Pål Waaktaar until his marriage in 1994), and keyboardist Magne Furuholmen, formed on 14 September 1982, and left Norway for London to make a career in the music business. They chose the studio of musician, producer, and soon-to-be-manager, John Ratcliff, because it had a Space Invaders machine. Ratcliff introduced the band to his manager, Terry Slater, and, after a few meetings, a-ha had two managers. Slater and Ratcliff together formed T.J. Management. Ratcliff dealt with all the technical and musical aspects; Slater was the international business manager and liaison to Warner Brothers' head office.[2]

The band says the name a-ha comes from a title Paul contemplated giving to a song; he was dithering between the title "a-ha" and "a-hem". Morten was looking through Paul's notebook, and came across the name, which he liked, and immediately decided that was the right name.[6]

In 1984, a-ha released their first single, "Take On Me", which became a hit only on the third attempt in 1985, after it had been re-recorded and accompanied by a music video directed by Steve Barron. The single's international success helped a-ha's debut album Hunting High and Low to sell over 10 million copies worldwide. Their second studio album was Scoundrel Days, followed by Stay on These Roads and East of the Sun, West of the Moon. The band then issued the commercially disappointing Memorial Beach, after which the band went on hiatus.

Morten Harket performing at an a-ha concert, 2005

Harket re-joined his colleagues in a-ha in 1998[7] to perform at the Nobel Peace Prize concert. Since 1998, a-ha has released four studio albums and several compilations. Their eighth studio album Analogue was released in 2005, and became a big hit worldwide, achieving Platinum certification in the UK. The band's last studio album before their split, Foot of the Mountain, was released in the spring of 2009.

Harket held a note for 20.2 seconds in a-ha's 2000 song "Summer Moved On", believed to be the longest note in UK chart history.[8] The note held exceeds the chest voice note in Bill Withers' famous song Lovely Day by 2.2 seconds.

In October 2009, a-ha announced that they would disband after a farewell tour in 2010. Tickets for a-ha's final concert at the Oslo Spektrum on 4 December 2010 sold out within 2 hours.

On 27 September 2015, a-ha reunited for a huge crowd assembled at Rock in Rio 2015 festival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which led to a reunion tour and the Cast in Steel album.

In June 2017 the band performed for MTV Unplugged in their homeland. The performance was released as a live album that September, and the acoustic version of "Take On Me" was made part of the soundtrack of the Hollywood movie Deadpool 2.

Paul Waaktaar-Savoy describes Harket as being "totally different from me." He recalls the band's first visit to London together, during which Harket burned all his clothes and re-fashioned his wardrobe. "He has given me self-confidence, encourages me to talk to people, not to be afraid and to use the abilities I have. Morten is actually the only one in Norway who had as much ambition as I did. I guess we both have big egos. In a way, we're each sitting in our own little world, while Mags is more down to earth. Mags often has to mediate between Morten and me... It's good that we're so different and still respect each other. The tension between us is creative."[9]

Magne Furuholmen describes Harket as "together". Furuholmen says Harket "believes strongly in everything he does. This goes for the band too, and it rubs off on us. He has the courage of his own convictions and cannot be shaken. He's an expert at always getting the last word, whether he's right or not. Morten is very loyal and he's fair when it comes to giving people a chance, letting them show who they are and what they're worth before judging them."[9]

The three members of a-ha, Morten Harket, Magne Furuholmen and Paul Waaktaar-Savoy, were appointed Knights of the First Class of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav for their contribution to Norwegian music. The Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav is granted as a reward for distinguished services to their country and humankind. The official ceremony took place on 6 November 2012.[10][11][12]

Harket performing in Stavanger.

Before Morten joined Pål and Magne, he was the lead singer of a soul band called "Souldier Blue".[13] In 1993, Harket performed a cover of "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" by Crewe/Gaudio on the Coneheads movie soundtrack in 1993.[14]

After a-ha went on a hiatus in 1994, Harket pursued a solo career, and has so far released six studio albums. Two of those albums were sung in Norwegian, but his 1995 album, Wild Seed, became more of an international success because of its English lyrics. Harket worked with Håvard Rem, a Norwegian poet, to write most of the songs. "A Kind of Christmas Card" and "Spanish Steps" were the most successful numbers. The rest were either easy listening songs, or more profound songs, such as "East Timor" and "Brodsky Tune" which had political messages in them.

Harket has collaborated in live performances and in studio recordings with several artists. Among them, Pakistan rock band Junoon on the song "Piya", Hayley Westenra on "Children First". He has also performed and worked with many other Scandinavian artists such as Bjørn Eidsvåg, Silje Nergaard, Oslo Gospel Choir, Espen Lind, Elizabeth Norberg-Schulz and Carola Häggkvist. On a-ha recordings, Morten has sung with Graham Nash, Lissie, Alison Moyet, Ian McCulloch, Ingrid Helene Håvik and Anneli Drecker.

Harket released another solo album, Letter from Egypt, on 28 May 2008 via Universal Records Germany.[15] In 2009 Harket created and performed the main theme of A Name is a Name, a film about Macedonia by Sigurjon Einarsson.[16] In April 2012 Harket released his new solo album, Out of My Hands in both Norway and Germany, and on 14 May in the UK.. In April 2014, Harket released his sixth album titled "Brother". He also composed a song with his cousin's son, Blade Whitehead, for an annual music night.[17]

Morten is currently working on a new solo album.

In addition to numerous a-ha and solo concerts, Harket has also performed on various other shows and concerts as both a solo artist and with a-ha. Some notable ones:

• Harket performed vocals on Pakistani Rock Band Junoon's single "Ocean of Love", from their 2002 album Daur-e-Junoon.
• Harket and Klaus Meine of the German band Scorpions performed a duet version of the Scorpions hit song Wind of Change at a Scorpions concert in Athens, Greece on 11 September 2013 for an MTV Unplugged album.[18]
• Christina Aguilera and Pitbull performed the song "Feel This Moment" which contains sampling of a-ha's Take On Me, live at the MGM Grand during the 2013 Billboard Music Awards with a surprise appearance from Morten Harket.[19][20][21]
• UNICEF Benefit Concert (2005) – Sang the official UNICEF song "Children First" at the H.C. Andersen jubilee in Copenhagen, Denmark, 2005.[22] The song is a duet and was sung with Hayley Westenra.[23]
• Eurovision Song Contest 1996 (as host of the show).
• Harket appeared at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert 1998, 2001 and 2015 with a-ha, and at the 1996 and 2007 concerts as a solo artist.
• He provided vocals to the Jan Bang single "Merciful Waters" which appears on the group's debut 1989 album Frozen Feelings.[24]
• In January 2021, Harket appeared on the second series of the British version of The Masked Singer, masked as the Viking. He became the first contestant on the franchise to perform their own song, when he sang "Take on Me" in episode five. He finished in 7th place.[25]