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Morten Harket
Morten Harket performing in 2013
Background information
Birth name	Morten Harket
Born	(1959-09-14) 14 September 1959 (age 65) Kongsberg, Norway
Genres	Synthpop, pop rock, alternative rock, folk rock, religious
Occupation(s)	Singer, songwriter
Instrument(s)	Vocals, guitar, piano, drums
Years active	1982–present
Labels	Polydor, Warner Bros., KKV/BMG Norway

Morten Harket (born in Kongsberg - next to Oslo - on 14 September 1959) is a Norwegian musician, best known as the lead singer of the synthpop/rock band A-ha, which released nine studio albums and topped the charts in several countries after their breakthrough hit "Take on Me" in 1985. A-ha disbanded on 04/12/2010 (their last gig in Oslo). Harket has also released six solo albums. Before joining A-ha in 1982, Harket had appeared on the Oslo club scene as the singer for blues outfit Soldier Blue.

Music career

A-ha

The trio, composed of lead vocalist Harket, guitarist Paul Waaktaar-Savoy (Pål Waaktaar until his marriage in 1994), and keyboardist Magne Furuholmen, formed on 14/09/1982, and left Norway for London in order 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. John Ratcliff introduced the boys to his manager, Terry Slater, and, after a few meetings, A-ha had two managers. Terry Slater and John 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. 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.

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.

Harket re-joined his colleagues in A-ha in 1998 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 Foot of the Mountain was released in the spring of 2009.

Harket held a note in the falsetto range for 20.2 seconds in A-ha's 2000 song "Summer Moved On", believed to be the longest note in UK chart history. 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.

As a band member

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."

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."

a-ha awarded Order of St. Olav

The three members of a-ha, Morten Harket, Magne Furuholmen and Paul Waaktaar-Savoy, were appointed Knights of the 1st 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.

Outside of A-ha

Before Morten joined Pal and Mags, he was the leader of a soul band called "Soldiers blue"; but earlier he was his church's chief choir. In 1993, Harket performed a cover of "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" by Crewe/Gaudio on the Coneheads movie soundtrack in 1993. 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, Pakistani rock band Junoon on the song "Piya", Hayley Westenra on "Children First". He has also worked with many other Scandinavian artists such as Bjørn Eidsvåg, Silje Nergaard, Oslo Gospel Choir, Espen Lind and Carola Häggkvist. On A-ha recordings, Morten has sung with Graham Nash and Anneli Drecker.

Harket released another solo album, Letter from Egypt, on 28 May 2008 via Universal Records Germany. In 2009 Harket created and performed the main theme of A Name is a Name, a film about Macedonia by Sigurjon Einarsson. 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".

Other appearances

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

• Morten Harket & Klaus Meine of the German band Scorpions (band) did a duet version of the Scorpions (band) hit song Wind of Change at a Scorpions (band) concert in Athens, Greece on 11 September 2013 to a MTV Unplugged album.
• 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.
• UNICEF Benefit Concert (2005) – Sang the official UNICEF song "Children First" at the H.C. Andersen jubilee in Copenhagen, Denmark, 2005. The song is a duet and was sung with Hayley Westenra.
• Eurovision Song Contest 1996 (as host of the show)
• He appeared at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert 1998 and 2001 with A-ha, and at the 1996 and 2007 concerts as a solo artist

Vocal range and style

Morten Harket is known for his vocal range, which some sources have claimed spans five octaves, although Harket himself said in 2009, “I’ve never counted, quite honestly”. His voice is capable of "The greatest falsetto in the history of pop music EVER..." according to NME's Sylvia Patterson, to an "unyielding groan" as described in Entertainment Weekly. Sound engineer Gerry Kitchingham, who worked with A-ha on "Take On Me", described Harket as "an excellent singer" with "this incredibly strong falsetto and almost choir-boyish clarity".

Personal life

The son of Reidar, a chief physician at a hospital, and Henny, an economics teacher <ref:http://www.biography.com/people/morten-harket-21095421#synopsis/ref)and brother to Gunvald, Håkon, Ingunn and Kjetil, Morten grew up in Asker. Early musical influences included Uriah Heep, Jimi Hendrix, Queen, Johnny Cash, Simon and Garfunkel,David Bowie, and James Brown. Morten's father had contemplated becoming a classical pianist, well Morten took piano lessons for a spell too, but lacked the discipline to practice (ref:http://www.biography.com/people/morten-harket-21095421#early-years/ref), however, at four year old, Morten he was just able to play piano.

Harket has three children with his ex-wife Camilla Malmqvist Harket, to whom he was married between 11 February 1989 and 1998: Jakob Oscar Martinus Malmqvist Harket (b. 14 May 1989), Jonathan Henning Adler Malmquist Harket (b. 30 December 1990), and Anna Katharina Tomine Malmquist Harket (b. 14 April 1993, uses Tomine as her first name). Harket also has a daughter, Henny, (born 7 February 2003), with then-girlfriend Anne Mette Undlien. Harket had another daughter, Karmen Poppy, (born 7 September 2008), with Inez Andersson.

Along with fellow band member Magne Furuholmen, Harket supports English Premier League football club Stoke City.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Filmography

• 1988 Kamilla og tyven (en. Kamilla and the Thief) as Christoffer
• 2009 Yohan: The Child Wanderer as Yussuf
• 2010 The Armstrong and Miller Show – cameo as himself.
• 2014 Ra.One – Shekhar/G.One (Norwegian dubbing version, speaking role)

Awards

See also

• List of Eurovision Song Contest presenters

References

1. ^ "The Story So Far... Chapter 10". Official Community of A-ha. Retrieved 16 March 2011.
2. The Story So Far... Chapter 3. Official Community of A-ha
3. "Longest vocal note in a hit single". Everyhit.com.
4. ^ "Band website". A-ha.com.
5. "a-ha receives prestigious award - Music Export Norway". Musicexportnorway.no.
6. "Utnevnelse til St. Olavs Orden". kongehuset.no. 6 September 2012.
7. "a-ha tildeles St. Olavs Orden - Music Export Norway". Musicexportnorway.no.
8. 84560.html
9. AV: robert hoftun gjestad. "Morten Harket: Jeg føler meg stolt, men kanskje mest forlegen - Aftenposten". Aftenposten.no.
10. Thea Steen ths@dagbladet.no (18 August 2009). "Nå er de riddere av 1. klasse - kultur". Dagbladet.no.
11. "Jeg er mer forlegen enn stolt - VG Nett om a-ha". Vg.no. 1 January 2012.
12. "Kommentar: Ridderlige a-ha - VG Nett". Vg.no. 1 January 2012.
13. "Kongens orden til kongene av pop - Kultur-og-underholdning - NRK". Nrk.no.
14. IMDB Movie Listing for Morten Harket
15. "Solo album for Morten Harket". Side-line.com. 22 February 1999.
16. "A name is name". Anameisaname.net.
17. "Morten performs with the Scorpions in Greece. News. The Official Website of a-ha". A-ha.com. Retrieved 23 July 2014.
18. "'Billboard' awards put on one impressive Vegas show". Usatoday.com. 20 May 2013. Retrieved 23 July 2014.
19. "Pitbull + Christina Aguilera 'Feel This Moment' With A-Ha Frontman Morten Harket at 2013 Billboard Music Awards [Video]". Popcrush.com. 19 May 2013. Retrieved 23 July 2014.
20. Atle Jørstad (20 May 2013). "Harket på scenen med Aguilera og Pitbull - Hollywood - VG". Vg.no. Retrieved 23 July 2014.
21. "News". HayleyWestenra.com. Archived from the original on 5 March 2006. Retrieved 13 April 2006.
22. Diaz, Mario (3 April 2005). "World Premiere of UNICEF song". UNICEF.org. Retrieved 13 December 2006.
23. Omdahl, Jan (2004). The Swing of Things. Oslo Press. p. 340. ISBN 82-7547-181-8.
24. Keyboard Player magazine, September 2009, issue 340.
25. ^ Potton, Ed (18 July 2009). "Guest List: The pop singer Morten Harket". The Times. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
26. Patterson, Sylvia (12 February 2000). "A-ha : Summer moved on". NME. UK: IPC Media. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
27. Eddy, Chuck (18 January 1991). "Music Review: East of the Sun, West of the Moon". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
28. Buskin, Richard (March 2011). "Classic Tracks: A-ha - Take On Me". Sound On Sound magazine. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
29. Omdahl, Jan (2011). a-ha The Swing Of Things 1985-2010. Press. ISBN 978-82-7547-416-0.
30. "Stoke & Staffordshire - Entertainment - A-ha are Stoke City fans!". BBC. 18 August 2009. Retrieved 23 July 2014.
31. ^ "norwegiancharts.com - Norwegian charts portal > Morten Harket". Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
32. "http://austriancharts.at - Austrian charts portal > Morten Harket". Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 April 2012. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
33. "German Charts > Albums > Morten Harket" (in German). charts.de Media Control Charts. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
34. "dutchcharts.nl - Dutch charts portal > Morten Harket". Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
35. "hitparade.ch - Swiss charts portal > Morten Harket". Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
36. ^
    • "The Official Charts Company > Morten Harket". The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
    • "Chart Log UK 1994–2010: H & Claire – Hysterix". zobbel.de. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
37. "German Charts > Singles > Morten Harket" (in German). charts.de Media Control Charts. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
38. Morten Harket. Stjerne. Punktum. (Norwegian), massiv.no, June 2009

External links

• Fan site
• Morten's official MySpace
• Site from Universal Germany
• A-ha's official site
• A-ha fan café
• English/French site dedicated to Morten Harket
• Media related to Morten Harket at Wikimedia Commons

Preceded by Mary Kennedy

Eurovision Song Contest presenter (with Ingvild Bryn) 1996

Succeeded by Ronan Keating & Carrie Crowley

Template:Persondata

• 1959 births
• Living people
• A-ha members
• Norwegian expatriates in the United Kingdom
• Norwegian male singers
• Norwegian pop singers
• Singers with a five-octave vocal range
• People from Kongsberg
• People from Asker
• Norwegian multi-instrumentalists
• English-language singers of Norway
• Spellemannprisen winners
• Norwegian New Wave musicians
• Synthpop new wave musicians