A-ha frontman Morten Harket reveals Parkinson's diagnosis
Morten Harket, the lead singer of A-ha, who was behind the 80s hit Take on Me, has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, the band has announced.
In a statement published on A-ha's website, Harket said he had kept his condition secret for some time, as he did not know how it being public knowledge would impact his life.
But the 65-year-old said now was the time to tell fans.
He said: "I've got no problem accepting the diagnosis. 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."
The Norwegian national shot to fame in the 1980s with the pop trio's international hit Take On Me, which was released in 1985.
He has had a prolific music career releasing over 10 albums with the band and several solo projects.
In the statement issued on the band's website, they Harket's ability to live a full life despite his diagnosis had been greatly advanced thanks to advancements in treatment at the Mayo Clinic in the United States.
In June 2024, Harket underwent brain surgery in which electrodes were implanted deep inside the left side of his brain. These are connected to a small pacemaker-like device placed under the skin of the upper chest that sends electrical impulses through the electrodes into the brain. The method is called deep brain stimulation (DBS) and is among the most advanced treatments in neurology.
Harket said the procedure had the desired effect, with the right electrical impulses now reaching Harket's brain, most of his physical symptoms had vanished.
He underwent a second surgery in December 2024.
Parkinson's disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder after Alzheimer's disease.
It is unknown what causes it, but the main symptoms include involuntary shaking, slower movement than usual, and muscle stiffness.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
3 hours ago
- The Independent
Labour pledges to lower A&E waiting times and end NHS ‘corridor care'
The government has pledged to drastically reduce the number of patients facing long waits in A&E, with plans also set out to end "corridor care". According to the Department of Health and NHS England, almost £450 million will be invested in creating better care and more facilities, with an emphasis on caring for people closer to their homes. The new Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for England states that more needs to be done to drive down long waits, cut delayed discharges, and improve care for patients. An earlier version of the document said NHS trusts would need to show how, by this winter, systems will "improve flow through hospitals, with a particular focus on patients waiting over 12 hours, and eliminate corridor care". The later version does not commit to a timescale for ending corridor care, instead stating that systems must "improve flow through hospitals, with a particular focus on reducing patients waiting over 12 hours and making progress on eliminating corridor care". Ministers have also set an ambition for a minimum of 78% of patients who attend A&E to be admitted, transferred, or discharged within four hours, up from the current 75%, meaning "over 800,000 people a month will receive more timely care". There will also be a focus on seeing more children. The Government wants to slash the number of patients waiting more than 12 hours for a hospital bed – or to be discharged from A&E – so this occurs 'less than 10% of the time', according to the new document. Around 1.7 million attendances at A&E every year currently exceed this time frame. Further measures in the plan are intended to drive down delayed discharges from hospital, which occur when people are medically fit to leave but care in their homes or community has not yet been put in place. Local performance targets will be set to improve patient discharge times, and 'eliminate internal discharge delays of more than 48 hours in all settings', the plan said. Experts said A&E 'league tables' will be published to drive up performance. Those patients who need an overnight emergency admission will also have their overall stay reduced where appropriate – the average is 'currently nearly a day longer than in 2019'. The plan further sets out how ambulance waiting times for category 2 patients – such as those suffering stroke, heart attack, sepsis or major trauma – will be cut by more than 14%, from 35 to 30 minutes. A previous target of 18 minutes has been repeatedly missed. In the document, there is an aim to 'eradicate' last winter's lengthy ambulance handover delays by meeting a maximum 45-minute target for patients to be handed over to A&E. This should help 'get 550,000 more ambulances back on the road for patients', it says. According to the document, around 40 new same day emergency care and urgent treatment centres will also be established to treat and discharge patients the same day, avoiding unnecessary admissions to hospital. Almost 500 new ambulances will also be rolled out across the country by March 2026. The plan details 15 mental health crisis assessment centres, which are designed to ensure mentally ill people do not have to wait in A&E for hours for care. It comes after the NHS experienced a crisis over winter, with patients waiting hours for beds and regularly being treated in corridors – so-called corridor care. A&E waiting time targets have not been met for more than a decade, while the 18-minute target for category 2 ambulance calls has never been hit outside the pandemic. Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: 'No patient should ever be left waiting for hours in hospital corridors or for an ambulance which ought to arrive in minutes. 'We can't fix more than a decade of underinvestment and neglect overnight. 'But through the measures we're setting out today, we will deliver faster and more convenient care for patients in emergencies. 'Far too many patients are ending up in A&E who don't need or want to be there, because there isn't anywhere else available. 'Because patients can't get a GP appointment, which costs the NHS £40, they end up in A&E, which costs around £400 – worse for patients and more expensive for the taxpayer. 'The package of investment and reforms we are announcing today will help the NHS treat more patients in the community, so they don't end up stuck on trolleys in A&E.' Under the plans, paramedics will play a bigger role in the community, with patients given 'more effective treatment at the scene of an accident or in their own homes from ambulance crews'. More patients will also be seen by urgent community response teams in their own homes to try to avoid hospital admission. The NHS is also pledging better use of virtual wards, where patients are monitored by hospital staff from their home, and there are plans to drive up vaccination rates among NHS staff to help protect patients. The Liberal Democrats claimed the Government had listened to their calls to end corridor care, but called on ministers to follow through on their promises. Lib Dem health spokesperson Helen Morgan MP said: 'Patients have heard these kinds of promises before only to be led up the garden path. 'We can't bear any more of the shameful neglect and failed delivery that we saw for a decade under the Conservatives. 'It's good to see ministers finally listen to Liberal Democrat demands to end corridor care but the misery in our A&Es will only be prolonged if they continue to move at a snail's pace on social care. 'Until they grasp this nettle, millions are at risk of dangerously long waits in A&E. 'They must see sense and conclude their review into social care by the end of this year.'
Scottish Sun
3 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
My friend went to extreme measures to stop me going home from a night out and ended up in A&E – the X-ray says it all
Social media users have been left in stitches SKELETON KEY My friend went to extreme measures to stop me going home from a night out and ended up in A&E – the X-ray says it all A MUM has told how her best pal swallowed her house key in a cheeky prank - then ended up in A&E. Siobhan Stanton, from Edinburgh, gobbled down friend Adele Donkin's metal door-opener to stop her leaving the pub and heading home. Advertisement 4 Siobhan Stanton, left, and Adele Donkin, right, had a hilarious end to their night Credit: adeledonkin/TikTok 4 Siobhan ended up in hospital after swallowing Adele's house key Credit: adeledonkin/TikTok But the 35-year-old's drunken stunt awkwardly backfired as she found herself in hospital the next day. Medics carried out an X-ray which revealed the distinctive metal shape lodged in her large intestine. Adele, also 35, said she thought best pal Siobhan was only pulling her leg near the end of their night out in the capital She told Fabulous: "We had been out at the local pub and it was nearly the end of the night and I was standing at the pub door with my key in my hand. Advertisement "I said to her 'I'm going home now' and she was asking me to stay out longer. "I kept saying no then she just grabbed my key and swallowed it. "I genuinely thought she was winding me up and had pretended to swallow it and had it hidden behind her back. "So then I couldn't go home as my mum was night shift at work so I had to phone her at work and tell her what happened, she thought I was winding her up too. I had to stay at my friend's that night." Advertisement The mum-of-two continued: "We went to A&E, they did an X-ray and said it would pass naturally. "It did about five days later and she asked if I wanted my key back but I said no thanks I will get a new key cut. "Me and her always have the funniest nights out, we have been in some funny situations. girl gets hilarious drunken tattoo while on holiday "When I asked her why she swallowed the key she said 'I would have missed you if you went home, I just wanted you to stay out'". Advertisement The 2017 incident went viral on Thursday with 200,000 TikTok views after Adele - who said it "still makes her laugh out loud" - posted about it for the first time on her page (@adeledonkin). One person joked: "My kinda friend." Referencing horror flick Saw, another wrote: "She really said 'let's play a game'." 4 Siobhan hadn't wanted best pal Adele to go home from a night out Credit: Supplied Advertisement 4 They key showed up clearly in an X-ray Credit: adeledonkin/TikTok A third said: 'Sorry. Cant come home, she's swallowed the key' most believable story." Did that hurt going in AND THEN going back out cause girl that is some commitment", screamed a fourth. A fifth cried: "I am HOWLING." Advertisement Meanwhile, a sixth insisted: "This will never not be funny."
Metro
4 hours ago
- Metro
Oscar-winner's daughter slammed for calling her wealthy life a 'bore'
Sofia Coppola's daughter Romy Mars is 18 years old, absurdly well-connected, and, according to her new song, totally disillusioned with it all. The daughter of the Oscar-winning director and French musician Thomas Mars, and granddaughter of The Godfather legend Francis Ford Coppola, Romy has just released her debut single A-Lister. The track takes aim at the gilded cage of privilege she's been raised in, but many are divided on whether it's a salient satire or an out-of-touch cry for attention from a spoiled nepo baby. 'My world is heartless, tasteless, nameless, famous,' she sings in the chorus, her voice floating over polished production. The lyrics are blunt: red carpets are hollow, wealth is numbing, and fame is boring. 'Recreate scenes from Titanic on a flying bridge yacht / Just to feel something real,' she sighs, painting a picture of a decadent yet unhappy childhood. Romy is a fully-fledged 'nepo grandbaby,' part of a dynasty that includes cousin Nicolas Cage, aunt Talia Shire, and cousin Gia Coppola. She was scouted by Marc Jacobs at 13, sits front row at fashion weeks, and has been a fixture at galas and film festivals since before she could vote. So it's no surprise that reactions to A-Listers have been mixed. Some praised the track for its self-aware tone, calling Romy 'meta,' 'fresh,' or even 'a Gen Z Lana Del Rey with a trust fund.' One fan wrote under the music video on Youtube: 'So talented so good so fun!!! The women in this family are oh so creative and gifted and you are making your name for yourself, in your own right, with this song :) Go Romy Go!!!' Another agreed: 'I love this kind of nepo baby I'm obsessed!' But others saw it as tone-deaf. 'It's tasteless to call your multitudes of wealth that you didn't earn 'a bore,'' another YouTube comment reads. Another is blunter: 'Talentless, insufferable, overproduced nepo-baby garbage.' Adding to the buzz is the music video, directed by none other than her mother, Sofia Coppola, whose career has long explored themes of isolation, excess, and the invisible weight of being young, beautiful, and trapped. In Lost in Translation, it was Scarlett Johansson's disaffected newlywed. In The Bling Ring, it was teens robbing celebrities to get closer to fame. In A-Listers, it's her own daughter, lip-syncing in designer clothes, escaping to West Coast mansions and party scenes with a blank stare and heavy lashes. The irony is built in, and maybe (hopefully) intentional. It's not the first time Romy has gone viral for poking at the absurdity of her own life. In 2023, she caused an internet frenzy with a now-deleted TikTok video in which she tried to cook pasta while explaining she was grounded for attempting to charter a helicopter on her dad's credit card to visit a friend in Maryland. The clip earned millions of views. 'They don't want me to be a nepotism kid,' she said, referring to her parents' social media ban. More Trending Sofia later told The Hollywood Reporter she was none too pleased by the moment. 'She's funny,' she allowed. 'But people discussing my parenting publicly is not what I would've hoped for.' Still, for all the pushback, there's something undeniably compelling about Romy Mars. Like many young artists raised in rarefied air, she's testing how much of that identity she can claim, subvert, or escape from. Is she self-aware? Spoiled? Satirical? All three? Or just 18, trying to process a life most people couldn't dream of, and probably shouldn't envy? Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: Katy Perry nearly plunges headfirst into crowd in terrifying stage blunder MORE: Judge threatens to remove Sean 'Diddy' Combs from trial for attempting to influence jurors MORE: Tom Hanks reacts after daughter reveals childhood of 'violence and deprivation'
