Latest news with #synthpop
BreakingNews.ie
07-06-2025
- Health
- BreakingNews.ie
A-ha singer Morten Harket announces Parkinson's disease diagnosis
A-ha's lead singer Morten Harket has announced his diagnosis with Parkinson's disease. The frontman of the Norwegian synth-pop group, known for hits including Take On Me and You Are The One, said he is having issues with his voice due to the condition, which causes parts of the brain to become progressively damaged over many years. Advertisement His bandmate Magne Furuholmen has said all future A-ha-related activities 'will of course be tuned to suit Morten's situation'. View this post on Instagram A post shared by a-ha (@officialaha) Speaking to a biographer for an article on the A-ha website, Harket, 65, 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 continued: '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. Advertisement '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.' Harket underwent a neurosurgical procedure in which electrodes were implanted deep inside the left side of his brain in June 2024 and had a similar procedure on the right side of his brain in December 2024, according to the website article. Magne Furuholmen, Morten Harket and Pal Waaktaar of A-ha during a signing session at HMV Oxford Street, London (Yui Mok/PA) These electrodes 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 and this method of treatment is called deep brain stimulation (DBS). Advertisement There is currently no cure for Parkinson's disease but there are treatments like physiotherapy and medication, according to the NHS website. The main symptoms are tremors, slow movement and stiff and inflexible muscles, and Harket also said the condition has affected his voice. 'The problems with my voice are one of many grounds for uncertainty about my creative future,' he said. Asked if he can sing at the moment, he said: 'I don't really know. I don't feel like singing, and for me that's a sign. Advertisement 'I'm broadminded in terms of what I think works; I don't expect to be able to achieve full technical control. The question is whether I can express myself with my voice. 'As things stand now, that's out of the question. But I don't know whether I'll be able to manage it at some point in the future.' He added: 'For a few years now I've been working on songs that I've got great belief in, and I feel the lyrics, especially, have something of a different aspect of me in them. 'I'm not sure if I'll be able to finish them for release. Time will tell if they make it. Advertisement 'I really like the idea of just going for it, as a Parkinson's patient and an artist, with something completely outside the box. It's all up to me, I just have to get this out of the way first.' A-ha formed in Oslo in 1982, comprised of guitarist Paul Waaktaar-Savoy, keyboardist Furuholmen and lead singer Harket. The band has had nine top 10 singles in the UK chart, including chart-topping track The Sun Always Shines On TV, and seven top 10 albums. Furuholmen said in an Instagram post on Wednesday: 'It is a day of sad news in a-ha world. Having known about Morten's diagnosis for some time does not take the force out of the blow, nor diminish the impact it has had, and will continue have, on us – as people and as a band. Morten Harket on stage at the Brit Awards 2006 (Yui Mok/PA) 'Our thoughts are first and foremost with Morten and his family at a difficult time adjusting to the changes that this condition has brought into their lives. 'As the news brings sadness, it is worth to remember through the hurt that there is also a lot of gratitude: for all the amazing memories, for how our combined creative efforts as a band have been so generously embraced by the world, and for how lucky we are that people continue to find meaning, hope and joy in our shared musical legacy. 'All future a-ha-related activities will of course be tuned to suit Morten's situation, but together we will work to try and find ways to give you the best of ourselves. Thank you everyone for all your support, your kind words, and consideration.'
Daily Telegraph
07-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Telegraph
Rita Ora sizzles in video for new single Heat
Don't miss out on the headlines from Music. Followed categories will be added to My News. It was a blockbuster week for new music from the planet's hottest female artists. Sabrina Carpenter released the cheeky synth-pop diss track Manchild, which fans insist is about her ex Barry Keoghan. The Queens made their grand re-entrances with Mariah Carey dropping Type Dangerous, her first non-Christmasy solo track in six years, and Madonna sharing a remix of her 90s album track Skin, a taster from the long-rumoured project Veronica Electronica of rare and unreleased remixes from her 1998 album Ray of Light. Ahead of her performance at the WorldPride Festival in Washington this weekend, Rita Ora released her new single Heat. Before her big Pride gig, Ora caught up on her squad of famous Aussie collaborators, from the sizzling (northern hemisphere) summer anthem's co-writer Troye Sivan to tour buddy Kylie Minogue. The Heat video is rather steamy. You shot it on Miami beach? 'It was shot while I was on the Kylie tour in April and we had about four hours in that day to shoot it because we were seriously back-to-back with the shows. So I'm happy we were in Miami, and it was all about the beach.' Ora cooling down diva-style with a beach-head blow-wave on the set of Heat. Picture: Supplied. You have very strong creative connections with Australia, particularly since you did the Voice (2021-2023). How did you and Troye Sivan and his songwriting partner Leland all get together to write Heat? 'Leland, I've known for a long time, we have a lot of mutual friends. And I've constantly had their support. When we were writing together, they suggested this concept of the sexuality and the intensity of heat. And that's what I love about Troye - he's so good at writing really sexy, cheeky songs. Rush was one of my favorite songs of last year and working with him has been on a bucket list. He just happens to be another Australian that wanted to work with me. It was just amazing, and the song fit exactly what my mood of the album was.' Clearly those heels aren't fit for standing purposes. Picture: Supplied. And what's the mood? 'My last record was all about finding love and feeling super inspired by my relationship (with film-maker husband Taika Waititi). Whereas this one is just really inspired by having fun and being a sexy bitch. I wanted to go back to how I started in my early career of feeling really comfortable in my skin and, and celebrating being a woman. And summer is such a big part of my life, since I was a kid going around to the Eastern European beaches and seeing how they operate with plastic bags on their heads, very different to a Hawaii beach. Or Sydney.' Pop star Rita Ora with husband Taika Waititi attend the MTV Europe Music Awards 2024. Picture:for Viacom International. Is it possible you were born in a bikini? 'Everyone's been asking me that! When I first got there to do The Voice, my health life changed drastically so I feel like I found my bikini bod in Australia, genuinely. I started exercising, sitting in the sun, seeing how fit everyone else is in Australia when they're walking down the beach. So it's your fault, Australia, you've made me just wear a bikini.' Ora with Kylie Minogue on tour together in the US. Picture: Supplied. You soft-launched Heat while you were doing a leg of the Tension shows with Kylie in America in April and May. 'It was everything to me. Kylie has been such an incredible inspiration to me for my whole life. And also having her as a supporter, I couldn't ask for anything more. I haven't toured like that for about three years and opening up for her was the best way to just get back into live shows. Her audience are just so accepting and they really showed up for me. I just never wanted it to end ... I'm just so grateful for that tour.' Lostboy, who co-wrote Kylie's smash Padam Padam, has said you were going to cut the song at one stage. Any regrets about him not leaving the song with you? 'I've always grown up with this saying, 'What's for you won't pass you.' And that's always how I've lived my life. And it's Kylie Minogue - she's the queen of the world, in my opinion. So, of course, Kylie's going to get it and kill it and do a great job. And in the pop industry, that happens every day to a lot of big artists, you don't just know about it. Lostboy lives in my studio here in Los Angeles, we're very close friends.' Is there a Whatsapp group for The Voice Australia coaches? Keith Urban featured on the track Shape of Me from your last album You & I and you are touring Australia with Ricky Martin in November. 'During that show, I made an incredible friendship with Keith and I love him to death. He's a big, big part of my music-making process, I ask for his advice. And I can't wait to do this Ricky tour. It's another reason to come to Australia. I mean, as soon as they asked me, I just said yes because it's in Australia and it's Ricky.' Heat is out now and tickets to the Ricky Martin and Rita Ora tour are on sale now via Originally published as Rita Ora teams up with Troye Sivan for sizzling new single Heat
News.com.au
07-06-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Rita Ora teams up with Troye Sivan for sizzling new single Heat
It was a blockbuster week for new music from the planet's hottest female artists. Sabrina Carpenter released the cheeky synth-pop diss track Manchild, which fans insist is about her ex Barry Keoghan. The Queens made their grand re-entrances with Mariah Carey dropping Type Dangerous, her first non-Christmasy solo track in six years, and Madonna sharing a remix of her 90s album track Skin, a taster from the long-rumoured project Veronica Electronica of rare and unreleased remixes from her 1998 album Ray of Light. Ahead of her performance at the WorldPride Festival in Washington this weekend, Rita Ora released her new single Heat. Before her big Pride gig, Ora caught up on her squad of famous Aussie collaborators, from the sizzling (northern hemisphere) summer anthem's co-writer Troye Sivan to tour buddy Kylie Minogue. The Heat video is rather steamy. You shot it on Miami beach? 'It was shot while I was on the Kylie tour in April and we had about four hours in that day to shoot it because we were seriously back-to-back with the shows. So I'm happy we were in Miami, and it was all about the beach.' You have very strong creative connections with Australia, particularly since you did the Voice (2021-2023). How did you and Troye Sivan and his songwriting partner Leland all get together to write Heat? 'Leland, I've known for a long time, we have a lot of mutual friends. And I've constantly had their support. When we were writing together, they suggested this concept of the sexuality and the intensity of heat. And that's what I love about Troye - he's so good at writing really sexy, cheeky songs. Rush was one of my favorite songs of last year and working with him has been on a bucket list. He just happens to be another Australian that wanted to work with me. It was just amazing, and the song fit exactly what my mood of the album was.' And what's the mood? 'My last record was all about finding love and feeling super inspired by my relationship (with film-maker husband Taika Waititi). Whereas this one is just really inspired by having fun and being a sexy bitch. I wanted to go back to how I started in my early career of feeling really comfortable in my skin and, and celebrating being a woman. And summer is such a big part of my life, since I was a kid going around to the Eastern European beaches and seeing how they operate with plastic bags on their heads, very different to a Hawaii beach. Or Sydney.' Is it possible you were born in a bikini? 'Everyone's been asking me that! When I first got there to do The Voice, my health life changed drastically so I feel like I found my bikini bod in Australia, genuinely. I started exercising, sitting in the sun, seeing how fit everyone else is in Australia when they're walking down the beach. So it's your fault, Australia, you've made me just wear a bikini.' You soft-launched Heat while you were doing a leg of the Tension shows with Kylie in America in April and May. 'It was everything to me. Kylie has been such an incredible inspiration to me for my whole life. And also having her as a supporter, I couldn't ask for anything more. I haven't toured like that for about three years and opening up for her was the best way to just get back into live shows. Her audience are just so accepting and they really showed up for me. I just never wanted it to end ... I'm just so grateful for that tour.' Lostboy, who co-wrote Kylie's smash Padam Padam, has said you were going to cut the song at one stage. Any regrets about him not leaving the song with you? 'I've always grown up with this saying, 'What's for you won't pass you.' And that's always how I've lived my life. And it's Kylie Minogue - she's the queen of the world, in my opinion. So, of course, Kylie's going to get it and kill it and do a great job. And in the pop industry, that happens every day to a lot of big artists, you don't just know about it. Lostboy lives in my studio here in Los Angeles, we're very close friends.' Is there a Whatsapp group for The Voice Australia coaches? Keith Urban featured on the track Shape of Me from your last album You & I and you are touring Australia with Ricky Martin in November. 'During that show, I made an incredible friendship with Keith and I love him to death. He's a big, big part of my music-making process, I ask for his advice. And I can't wait to do this Ricky tour. It's another reason to come to Australia. I mean, as soon as they asked me, I just said yes because it's in Australia and it's Ricky.'
News.com.au
05-06-2025
- Health
- News.com.au
A-Ha singer Morten Harket may not sing again after Parkinson's diagnosis
A-ha singer Morten Harket has revealed he has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and may not be able to sing again. The 'Take on Me' superstar shared in an interview on the Norwegian synth pop band's website that treatment for symptoms of the condition have affected his voice and 'creative future.' The 65-year-old singer said he has been undergoing deep brain stimulation treatment for the past year after two procedures to implant electrodes into the left and then right side of his brain. The electrical impulses fired into his brain have reduced the impact of some of the disease's physical symptoms but have affected his soaring vocal power and ability to sing. 'I don't feel like singing, and for me that's a sign,' he told the band's biographer Jan Omdahl. 'I'm broadminded in terms of what I think works; I don't expect to be able to achieve full technical control. 'The question is whether I can express myself with my voice. As things stand now, that's out of the question. 'But I don't know whether I'll be able to manage it at some point in the future.' Harket said he had kept the diagnosis private until now so he could focus on the 'delicate balancing act' of managing his symptoms with medication and advanced neurological treatment. He said he had 'no problems accepting the diagnosis' and took his 94-year-old father's advice to 'use whatever works' as he navigates living with the degenerative disorder. '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,' Harket said. '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.' Harket and bandmates Magne Furuholmen and Paul Waaktaar-Savoy last toured Australia in 2020 and performed what may be their final concert at the Hollywood Bowl in July 2022. The musician said he had been working on new songs in recent years but was unsure 'if I'll be able to finish them for release.' But the philosophical singer told fans not to worry about him. 'Don't worry about me. Find out who you want to be – a process that can be new each and every day. Be good servants of nature, the very basis of our existence, and care for the environment while it is still possible to do so,' he said. 'Spend your energy and effort addressing real problems, and know that I am being taken care of.'
BBC News
04-06-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
A-ha star Morten Harket diagnosed with Parkinson's disease
A-ha frontman Morten Harket has been diagnosed with Parkinson's news was announced on Wednesday on the Norwegian synth-pop band's official website in an article written by their biographer Jan Omdahl, which also revealed the singer had already undergone brain surgery 65, said he had "no problem accepting the diagnosis". He added: "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'".A-Ha are best known for their megahit Take On Me, taken from their 1985 debut album Hunting High and Low which peaked at number two in the UK chart. Omdahl, who penned the A-ha biography The Swing of Things, wrote: "You know him as A-ha's iconic frontman, a divinely gifted singer, reluctant pop star, solo artist, songwriter, eccentric thinker, father of five and a grandfather too, but in recent years Morten Harket has also been a man battling his own body."This isn't the sort of news anyone wants to deliver to the world, but here it is: Morten has Parkinson's disease." He went on to note how the singer's condition had until now remained strictly private, but for a few people in his immediate circle who knew he was also wrote about how the "unpredictable consequences" and stress of going public with the illness had led him holding off making an announcement."Part of me wanted to reveal it," Harket told him. "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."According to the NHS website, Parkinson's disease is caused by "a loss of nerve cells in part of the brain called the substantia nigra" which leads to "a reduction in a chemical called dopamine in the brain."Dopamine plays a vital role in regulating the movement of the body, and so symptons can include involuntary shaking, slow movement, and stiff and inflexible muscles; as well as depression and anxiety. 'I don't feel like singing' Omdahl stressed that while Harket will have to live with the disease for the rest of his life, medication and brain surgery at the Mayo Clinic in the US have, he said, "softened the impact of his symptoms".He said the star underwent an advanced neurosurgical procedure - called deep brain stimulation (DBS) - in June last year, in which "electrodes were implanted deep inside the left side of his brain."In December 2024, Harket underwent a similar procedure on the right side of his brain, he added, which was also he can still drive his car, Harket is less sure about his future as a singer."The problems with my voice are one of many grounds for uncertainty about my creative future," he biographer described how, on good days, Harket shows "virtually no sign of many of the most familiar physical symptoms of Parkinson's" but still requires a "round-the-clock effort" to balance medication, signals from the electrodes in his brain, sleep, blood sugar and his mindset - to keep the symptoms at bay."This isn't always successful, and is more like a never-ending rollercoaster ride," added by the writer if he can sing now at all, Harket replied: "I don't really know. I don't feel like singing, and for me that's a sign."I'm broadminded in terms of what I think works; I don't expect to be able to achieve full technical control. The question is whether I can express myself with my voice. "As things stand now, that's out of the question. But I don't know whether I'll be able to manage it at some point in the future."He added: "I see singing as my responsibility, and at certain moments I think it's absolutely fantastic that I get to do it."But I've got other passions too, I have other things that are just as big a part of me, that are just as necessary and true." The article highlighted how other stars who have lived with Parkinson's include fellow singer Ozzie Osbourne, actor Michael J Fox and late boxing champion Muhammad said he was now going to "listen the professionals", urging fans "don't worry about me"."Spend your energy and effort addressing real problems, and know that I am being taken care of."He revealed he has been working on new song lyrics but was "not sure" if he'll be able to finish and release them."Time will tell if they make it. I really like the idea of just going for it, as a Parkinson's patient and an artist, with something completely outside the box."It's all up to me, I just have to get this out of the way first."He concluded: "It used to bother me to think about my sickness becoming public knowledge. In the long run it bothers me more to have to protect something that is strictly a private matter by treating it as a secret."Harket, who also enjoyed a solo career and co-hosted the 1996 Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo, was knighted in Norway in 1992 - along with his A-ha bandmates Pål Waaktaar and Magne Furuholmen - for their services to Norwegian music and international success.
