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Morten Harket (born September 14, 1959 in Kongsberg) is the lead singer of the Norwegian pop band a-ha, who have released eight studio albums and topped the charts in several countries after their breakthrough hit "Take on Me" in 1985.

The son of Henny and Reidar Harket, and brother to Gunvald, Håkon, Ingunn and Kjetil, Morten grew up in Asker. Early musical influences included Uriah Heep, Queen, Johnny Cash, David Bowie and Peter Gabriel. Before joining a-ha in 1982, Harket appeared on the Oslo club scene as the singer for blues outfit Souldier Blue.

After a-ha took a break in 1994, Harket pursued a solo career, and has so far released three 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, simple songs, or more profound ones, such as "East Timor" and "Brodsky Tune", which had political messages in them.

Harket re-joined his colleagues in a-ha in 1998 to perform at the Nobel Peace Prize concert. Since 1998, Morten Harket and his bandmates in a-ha have released several albums together. Their eighth studio album (Analogue) was released in 2005.

Harket holds the record for the longest single note, for a man, in a song, having held a note for 20.2 seconds in a-ha's 2000 song "Summer Moved On". This overtook the previous record of 18 seconds held by Bill Withers in the song "Lovely Day".

Harket has three children with ex-wife Camilla Malmquist Harket (married 11 February 1989 - 1998); Jakob Oscar Martinus Malmquist Harket (b. May 14, 1989), Jonathan Henning Adler Malmquist Harket (b. December 30, 1990) and Anna Katharina Tomine Malmquist Harket (b. April 14, 1993, uses Tomine as her first name). Harket's ex-girlfriend Anne Mette Undlien gave birth to their first child, a daughter, named Henny in 2003. Harket is currently dating his personal assistant, Inez Andersson.

Solo Career Discography

See also a-ha discography

Albums

• Poetenes Evangelium (November 09, 1993)
• Wild Seed (September 04 1995)
• Vogts Villa (November 25 1996)

Singles

• "A Kind of Christmas Card" (August 07, 1995)
• "Spanish Steps" (February 19 1996)
• "Los Angeles" (March 11 1996) — Norway only
• "Heaven's Not For Saints" (May 27 1996)
• "Tilbake Til Livet" (November 01, 1996) — radio promo, Norway only
• "Herre I Drømmen" (December 24 1996) — radio promo, Norway only
• "Jungle of Beliefs" (March 1999) — radio promo, Norway only
• "A Jester In Our Town" (1999) — radio promo, Norway only

Soundtrack contributions

• The song "Kamilla & Tyven" for the movie of the same name (1989) (translates into English as "Kamilla and the Thief").
• The song "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" for the movie Coneheads (1993)
• The song " A Jester in Town " from the soundtrack for the film Sophie's World

Other appearances

• The official Unicef song "Children First", sung live together with New Zealand singer Hayley Westenra, in Copenhagen, Denmark at the HC Andersen Jubilee 2005. However, Morten does not sing on the official Unicef CD.
• Harket was co-host along with Ingvild Bryn, of the Eurovision Song Contest 1996 which was held in Oslo, Norway, where he also performed "Heaven's Not for Saints" as the opening of the show.

Movie Appearances / Acting

• Kamilla & Tyven (1988) translates to Kamilla and the Thief.
• Kamilla & Tyven II (1989) translates to Kamilla and the Thief.

Trivia

• Has an interest in Orchids, sharks and Tropical fish.
• Has a minor in Religious Education from MF Norwegian School of Theology.
• In a newsbit in Side-Line Magazine the Bel Canto frontwoman Anneli Drecker says she added a Morten Harket song to her new solo album Frolic.
• Political interests: Fighting for the rights and freedom of the people of East Timor.
• Interested in the Environment and Clean Energy alternatives.
• Was offered a role as a villain's henchman in the James Bond movie The Living Daylights. He declined, due to time constraints and because the producers only wanted him in the movie because of his popularity and not for his acting skills. a-ha wrote and performed the title song for the movie.
• Briefly dated actress/model/dancer Bunty Bailey, who played "The Girl" in the video to a-ha's hit, "Take on Me" and "The Sun Always Shines on TV"
• On the popular flash cartoon, Weebl and Bob, Weebl says that Harket "makes me moist in my special places."
• Holds the world record for the longest note held in a song. The song is "Summer Moved On" from the a-ha album Minor Earth Major Sky Morten holds the note for 20, 2 seconds.
• Morten Harket and one of his colleagues in a-ha, Magne Furuholmen, worked at a psychiatrical hospital in Oslo, Norway in the early eighties.
• Harket was one of three celebrities on the Magic 105.4 radio Mystery voices competition which lasted for five months ending on 29 June 2006. The successful listener won £98,400.
• He worked out a lot when he was younger. On the cover of "Hunting High and Low" his triceps are clearly visible. He also works out his abs and biceps a lot.

Commentary on Morten Harket

• "Harket looked like Elvis Presley and James Dean and he also had the operatic voice of Roy Orbison" (Jeff Ayeroff, Warner's marketing genius in 1985. ( Comment from in Interview with NRK - Norwegian Broadcasting, 2005 www.nrk.no)

• "Morten Harket has a fantastic voice and a-ha has been one of our favorite bands for many years. a-ha has a sort of Nordic sound." ( Neil Tennant, The Pet Shop Boys) ( Comment NRK - Norwegian Broadcasting www.nrk.no )

• "They are definitely my favourites this summer. Their last CD (Minor Earth, Major Sky) is just fantastic, and how the vocalist sings ( Morten Harket )!" (Sarah Brightman) ( Comment in Norwegian newspaper VG - www.vg.no - 2001 )

• "That man got pipes." (Carl Perkins commenting on Morten Harket's voice) ( Source: The Swing of Things official portrait book, written by Jan Omdahl )

• I remember Morten Harket from my youth, me and my buddies thought he was cool. I've been aware of their comeback. It's good to see them again, the vocalist continues. ( Liam Gallagher, Oasis - www-vg.no 26.01.2006 )

• "I met a-ha for the first time on Barbados, and got a very positive impression of them. Different personalities that strives together and creates something creative. I stands respect of what they do, and we got a good contact. When I and David Crosby played in Oslo earlier this winter, Morten appeared backstage after the concert. There we began to talk about the possibility of contributing with a little vocal, and now it's done. a-ha is a good band, and the song I did backing on is very good." (Graham Nash of The Hollies / Crosby Stills & Nash, from a 2005 interview. Nash did backing vocals on two of a-ha's songs on their Analogue album )

• Morten Harket... the love of my life... loves to cook : )

External links

• a-ha's official site
• a-ha's official "minor earth" forum
• Morten Harket unofficial "Mortenology" forum
• Morten Harket fan "MySpace"

• 1957 births
• Living people
• A-ha
• Eurovision presenters
• Norwegian artists who have sold 1 million+ records
• Norwegian male singers
• Norwegian pop singers
• Falsettos