a-ha frontman diagnosed with Parkinson's disease

The frontman of a-ha, Morten Harket, has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, UNN reports, citing the BBC.

Details

The news was announced on Wednesday on the Norwegian synth-pop group's official website in an article written by their biographer, Jan Omdahl, which also stated that the singer has already undergone brain surgery twice.

65-year-old Harket said he has "no problem accepting the diagnosis", adding: "Eventually, I took to heart my 94-year-old father's attitude to how the body gradually gives up: "I use everything that works".

A-ha are best known for their megahit Take On Me, which features Harket's famous falsetto, taken from their 1985 debut album Hunting High and Low.

Omdahl, who wrote the biography a-ha The Swing of Things, wrote: "You know him as the iconic a-ha frontman, a divinely gifted singer, an involuntary pop star, a solo artist, a songwriter, an eccentric thinker, a father of five and a grandfather, but in recent years Morten Harket has also been a man struggling with his own body.".

"This is not the news anyone wants to break to the world, but here it is: Morten has Parkinson's disease," the biographer wrote.

He went on to note that the singer's condition had remained strictly confidential until now, with the exception of a few people from his inner circle who knew he was ill.

Omdahl also wrote about how the "unpredictable consequences" and stress of publicly announcing the illness had caused him to postpone the announcement.

"Part of me wanted to reveal it," Harket told him. "As I said, accepting the diagnosis was not a problem for me; I am hampered by my need for peace and quiet to work."

"I am trying to do everything I can to prevent the decline of my entire system. It's hard to balance taking medication and managing its side effects," he said.

Addition

According to the NHS, Parkinson's disease is caused by "the loss of nerve cells in a part of the brain called the substantia nigra", which leads to "a decrease in the level of a chemical called dopamine in the brain".

Dopamine plays a vital role in regulating body movement, so symptoms can include involuntary tremors, slowed movements, and stiff and inflexible muscles, as well as depression and anxiety.