A-ha’s Morten Harket Reveals Parkinson’s Disease Diagnosis

A-ha vocalist Morten Harket has revealed he has Parkinson’s Disease. The band announced Harket’s diagnosis on their official website, accompanied by an interview with the singer conducted by Jan Omdahl.

“This isn’t the sort of news anyone wants to deliver to the world, but here it is: Morten has Parkinson’s disease,” said the band in a statement on Instagram. On his page, A-ha keyboardist Magne Furuholmen added, “It is a day of sad news in A-ha world. Having known about Morten’s diagnosis for some time does not take the force out of the blow, nor diminish the impact it has had, and will continue to have, on us, as people and as a band.”

In his interview, Harket, now 65, said he was ready to tell the world of his diagnosis, after dealing with it throughout the past several years. “I’ve got no problem accepting the diagnosis,” said Harket. “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 added, “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.”

Harket also revealed that he has been taking medication and underwent treatments at the Mayo Clinic in the U.S., which led to improvements in his condition. In June of 2024, Harket first underwent a deep brain stimulation (DBS) procedure, wherein electrodes were implanted inside the left side of his brain, connecting a small pacemaker-like device placed under the skin of the upper chest that sends electrical impulses through the electrodes into the brain.

Along with a combination of medication, rest, and other health management, the procedures seem to be working, according to Harket, relieving him of some of the physical symptoms related to Parkinson’s. In December 2024, Harket underwent a similar DBS procedure on the right side of his brain, which was also successful.

In the U.S. alone, 90.000 new cases of Parkinson’s are diagnosed each year, according to the Mayo Clinic, while approximately 10 million people are living with the disease worldwide. As of 2024, approximately 16,500 individuals were diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in Harket’s native Norway, according to the Norwegian Parkinson’s Registry and Biobank.

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Although the procedures have helped with some of the other symptoms of the disease, Harket said he is uncertain about his “creative future” and where it will leave his voice. “I don’t feel like singing, and for me, that’s a sign,” shared Harket. “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 continues, “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.”

Around the release of A-ha’s eleventh album, True North, in 2022, Harket said he was working on some new music that he had written in an interview with American Songwriter. “More so than ever before,” said Harket about writing. “I have quite a lot of material now that I need to deal with, so that’s next in line for me.”

After releasing their fifth album, Memorial Beach, in 1993, A-ha took a hiatus, while Furuholmen, Pål Waaktaar-Savoy, and Harket pursued solo projects. That year, Harket released his solo debut, Poetenes Evangelium, in 1993 and five more albums through his sixth, Brother, in 2014. 

Some of his new music he has already demoed and hopes to release at some point. “For a few years now I’ve been working on songs that I’ve got great belief in, and I feel the lyrics, especially, have something of a different aspect of me in them,” Harket said. “I’m not sure if I’ll be able to finish them for release. Time will tell if they make it. I really like the idea of just going for it, as a Parkinson’s patient and an artist, with something completely outside the box. It’s all up to me, I just have to get this out of the way first.”

For an artist whose life and voice have been in the spotlight since A-ha released their debut album Hunting High and Low and the band’s iconic hit “Take On Me,” which both marked a 40th anniversary just days ago, Harket had a message for his fans, who may be concerned for him.

“Don’t worry about me,” he said. “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.”

Main Photo: Morten Harket performs with A-ha at the Zitadelle Spandau on August 21, 2018, in Berlin, Germany. (Gina Wetzler/Redferns)