Norwegian band formed in Oslo in 1982. The band split in 2010 after a worldwide tour of 73 shows. In December 2014 they announced they would participate in the "Rock in Rio" festival for September 2015. In March 2015 they announced a new album "Cast In Steel" to be released in September 2015. The first single, "Under The Makeup" was released in July. A European tour has been announced for spring 2016. Morten Harket (born September 14th, 1959): vocals Paul Waaktaar-Savoy (born September 6th, 1961): guitar, vocals Magne Furuholmen (born November 1st, 1962): keyboards, vocals
(August 2006) Will tour Russia and Norway shortly, before beginning on their next studio album. Release date probably sometime in 2007.
On the 30th of October 2006 in London, A-Ha received the prestigious Q Inspiration Award for their long contribution to music and for inspiring many of their younger colleagues in the business.
(September 2008) Currently in studio, working on a new album. Possible release, spring 2009. Following tour is planned.
A-Ha is responsible for the "ripped jeans" fashion trend of 1985. Lead singer Morten Harket was the originator of this trend due to a slight mishap, he mistakenly tore the front of his jeans on a Marshall amplifier while rushing to the stage during a performance. Afterwards, he remarked "Ouch!I just didnt see those". In future performances he used razor blades to achieve the same effect.
The very first version of "Take On Me" was called "The Juicyfruit Song" and was recorded during a rehearsal in 1981 by Bridges, Paul Waaktaar-Savoy (Pl Waaktaar ) and Magne Furuholmen s former band.
Fans of A-Ha includes: Coldplay , Sarah Brightman , Graham Nash , Pet Shop Boys , Keane , Adam Clayton , Robbie Williams , Claudia Schiffer , and Leonard Cohen.
A-Ha sales (with albums, singles and EPs) is around 70 million copies.
In 1994, A-Ha performed the official song for the Winter Paralympics of 1994 at Lillehammer in Norway. The name of the song was A-ha: Shapes That Go Together .
Songs by A-Ha have been included as background music in episodes of popular TV series, such as "Baywatch" , "Melrose Place" , "South Park" , "Smallville" , and "The Simpsons" , as well as movies such as One Night at McCools , Grosse Pointe Blank , Corky Romano , and Beavis and Butthead.
A-Ha has performed at two Nobel Peace Prize concerts, the most prestigious award show in the world. A-Ha performed in 1998 and 2001. (Morten Harket has also performed solo twice.) The 1998 performance was A-Has comeback into the world of music.
In 1999, songwriter Paul Waaktaar-Savoy (Pl Waaktaar ) received an award: A-Ha had been played 2,000,000 times on US radio-stations since 1985.
An A-Ha poster can be seen on the wall during the "Seinfeld" episode "The Pez Dispenser," which was aired in 1992.
In 2005, the video for A-Ha: Take on Me was parodied in an episode of a "Family Guy" cartoon where Chris is pulled into the pencil sketched world of the video with A-Ha singer, Morten Harket. The scene contains re-drawn footage copied from the "Take On Me" video, but with Chris instead of "The Girl".
In 1991, A-Ha set a Guinness Book World Record by playing for the largest paying audience in the world: 198,000 people at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.