Singer Morten Harket, keyboardist Magne Furuholmen and guitarist Paal Waaktaar-Savoy are best known in the U.S. for “Take On Me,” the band’s 1985 MTV smash hit. The music video for “Take On Me,” which featured a pencil sketch animation/live-action combination called rotoscoping, earned ah-ha six Moonmen at the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards, including Best New Artist, Best Concept Video and Best Special Effects.
In 1991 a-ha earned itself a Guinness World Record for the largest-ever audience attendance at a paid concert after 196,000 fans showed up for its performance at Rock in Rio II at Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.
Following the band’s 1985 debut album, Hunting High and Low, a-ha has released eight studio albums, including this year’s Foot of the Mountain. The band has sold more than 35 million copies of the albums, 70 million copies including singles.
In the ‘90s the band took a seven-year hiatus then re-formed in 1998 with a performance at the Nobel Peace Prize concert.
This time ah-ha says they are calling it quits for good and will not release any new music.
“We've literally lived the ultimate boy's adventure tale, through a longer, more rewarding career than anyone could hope for,” the band said in a statement on its Web site. “Doing this now will give us a chance to get more involved in other meaningful aspects of life, be it humanitarian work, politics, or whatever else - and of course through new constellations in the field of art and music. We are retiring as a band, not as individuals. Change is always difficult and it is easy to get set in one's ways. Now it is time to move on.”
Before they say goodbye a-ha has plans for a world tour in 2010 with the band’s last concert ever taking place Dec. 4, 2010 at the Oslo Spektrum in Oslo, Norway. Tickets for the final concert go on sale today, Oct. 16 at 10 a.m. CET.
A-ha is currently touring Europe with shows lined up from Oct. 27’s gig at Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Germany through Nov. 22’s concert at Olympiiski in Moscow, Russia. Three days later the band plays Tokyo with a show at JCB Hall.
Click here for a-ha’s Web site.