The world was hit by a gigantic a-ha-wave in the mid 80s which took even a-ha themselves by surprise. The radio stations played the song non stop, and almost all female teenagers agreed that "Morten is damned cute". Posters hung in all youth rooms and every teenager-wrist was adorned with leather bracelets. Mothers had to accept that their daughters preferred to cut holes into their new jeans and use their nail files to create the perfect a-ha-pair of pants. Certainly, "Take on me" and all the hysteria around it was important to make the world aware of a-ha, but the band’s actual potential was underrated at this time. Based on this start to their career the media was quick to label the band as just another Boyband/One-hit-Wonder.


Their second single, "The sun always shines on tv", with its critical, profound text and the voluminous orchestra, changed nothing. After the initial euphoria, a-ha's further development was characterized by the desire to rid themselves of this image. They never really achieved this.

After the album "Memorial Beach" in 1993 it became quiet around a-ha, who could be called one of the most successful bands of the 80s. Morten, Magne and Paul were drained. In all these years they never had a chance to rest or to get to grips with their success. Dissatisfaction spread and after their last single "Shapes that go together", which was released in 1994 as the official hymn for the paralympics, the band broke up.

Magne dedicated himself to the fine arts, Paul founded his first solo-band "Savoy" with his wife Lauren and Morten wrote his own songs for the first time and released three solo-albums. None of them thought of a reunion at this time. They were successful and comfortable with their lives.

But in 1998 the organisers of the nobel peace prize concert managed what many hadn't considered to be possible: a-ha stood on stage again, together. And they had actually written a new song, "Summer moved on", for this event. This appearance had effect something because only a short time later Magne travelled to New York to visit Paul. Plans for a comeback grew even if, according to Magne, no one needs a comeback of a 80s band.

The millennium came and the world was in a kind of departure mood - and the people were poised to leave the past behind to look optimistically into the future. However the year 2000 wasn't particulary different to all the previous years. It was characterized by large as well as small, beautiful and tragic events: Stafan Raab sang, to the dismay of Ralph Siegel, for the Grand Prix for Germany, Michael Schumacher won – not surprisingly - the Formula One world championship for the third time and a-ha surfaced totally surprisingly after six years and had a huge comeback with the single "Summer moved on" and the album "Minor earth, major sky". They came softly, melancholy as usual and continued their melodious pop tradition confidently and trend defyingly. The success spoke for this concept - "Summer moved on" attained no. 8 in Germany and no. 1 in Norway, the album followed with a gigantic jump from zero to no. 1 in the German charts. The album attained platinum-status and was sold over a million times worldwide. A-ha fans in the entire world, having grown up in the meantime, dug out their records again and stood behind their favorite band. A-ha also gained new, younger listeners with their brilliant, ambitious music. The press registered this surprisingly benevolently. In 2002 a-ha released their multi-layered album "Lifelines" after an acclaimed world tour. Afterwards a-ha took time out to concentrate on their solo projects and their families. A small consolation was published in the spring of 2003 for the fans, the first live-album "How can I sleep with your voice in my head" lest no one forget a-ha, as Magne declared.

In june 2004 it was revealed that a-ha would separate from their record company Warner after 20 years. The new partner on their side became Universal and a-ha signed a contract for three further albums. One year later they released their eighth album entitled “Analogue“, along with a large Europe tour that began in the Kölnarena in Germany on October 29the. Beforehand a-ha presented some of their new songs at a gigantic free concert in the Frognerpark in Oslo in front of 120,000 fans. But compared to “Lifelines“ the new record “Analogue“ didn't top the charts. After it entered the charts at number six, it desappeared 11 weeks later.