Multi-million selling Norwegian trio a-ha will return to North America next week for 7 shows, before heading back to Europe for the final leg of their year-long world-wide Farewell Tour. The band will perform together for the very last time in Oslo on 4 December 2010.

Following a fantastic international career spanning 25 years and over 35 million albums sold, a-ha’s Morten Harket, Magne Furuholmen and Paul Waaktaar-Savoy will perform their final shows together exactly 25 years after the release of the band’s multi-platinum debut album Hunting High & Low and debut single “Take On Me”, which reached number 1 in 27 countries including the USA. Since that time, “Take On Me” has been played 3 million times on American radio… the equivalent of 375 times a day for 22 years! For a blast from the past, check out the video for “Take On Me” here.

In the mid 80’s the Norwegian trio created teenage hysteria and general pandemonium wherever they went. All told, the band has released 9 studio albums in 25 years, and toured the world many times (more than 500 concerts in 33 countries to be exact), including the legendary show at Maracana Stadium, Rio De Janeiro in 1991 which earned a Guinness World Record for the largest-ever audience attendance at a paid concert – 196,000 people (George Michael, Prince and Guns N' Roses managed to gather only sixty thousand each).

In 2006 the band received the ‘Q Inspiration Award’ in honor of their lasting musical influence. The band returned to the UK Top 5 in 2009 with the album Foot Of The Mountain. The video for the title track can be seen here. In recent years the focus has shifted to the musical legacy they will leave behind, inspiring a whole generation of artists such as Coldplay and Keane to Kanye West, Oasis, The Strokes, Robbie Williams and U2. 

The band would like to thank their fans and everyone who has contributed to their amazing journey and say, “We’ve literally lived the ultimate boy’s adventure tale, through a longer, more rewarding career than anyone could hope for. 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.” In keeping with their interest in humanitarian and global causes, a-ha still own a sizeable part of the Amazon rainforest as part of a 1980's reforestation/preservation scheme.
 

More Info Available at www.a-ha.com

DON’T MISS A-HA’S LAST PERFORMANCES IN NORTH AMERICA! 

05/06:  New York, NY @ Nokia Theater

05/07:  New York, NY @ Nokia Theater

05/08:  New York, NY @ Nokia Theater

05/10:  Toronto, ONT @ Massey Hall

05/13:  Chicago, IL @ Riviera Theater

05/15:  Los Angeles, CA @ Club Nokia Live

05/16:  Los Angeles, CA @ Club Nokia Live