a-ha is a synthpop/-rock band from Norway, formed in 1982. The group initially rose to fame during the 1980s and has had continued global success in the 1990s and 2000s.

a-ha achieved its biggest success with their debut album and single in 1985.

Hunting High and Low peaked at number 15 on the Billboard charts and yielded an international number-one single, "Take on Me", earning the band a Grammy Award nomination as Best New Artist. Hunting High and Low was one of the best-selling albums of 1986. In 1994, the band went on a hiatus, the same year a-ha reached a sales number of 26 million albums sold worldwide.

After a performance at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in 1998, the band returned to the studio and recorded 2000's Minor Earth Major Sky, which resulted in a new tour. By 2000, they had reached 36 million albums sold worldwide plus a double figure million singles. In 2002 the band released its seventh studio album Lifelines. 2005's Analogue has been certified silver and is their most successful album in the UK since 1990's East of the Sun, West of the Moon. Their 9th album, Foot of the Mountain, was released on 19 June 2009 (release date different in some countries). 15 October 2009 the band announced their split after a worldwide tour in 2010,more specifically after their two farewell shows in Oslo 3 and 4 December 2010. On 19 October the tour's name was announced as Ending On A High Note.

The origin of the name "a-ha" comes from a title that Paul contemplated giving to a song. The song used the words "a-ha" and "ahem". Morten was looking through Paul's notebook and came across the name "a-ha". He liked it and said, — That's a great name. That's what we should call ourselves.

After checking dictionaries in several languages, they found out that a-ha was an international way of expressing recognition, with positive connotations. It was short, easy to say, and unusual.

On 20–22 May, 2008, Morten Harket, Magne Furuholmen and Paul Waaktaar-Savoy performed concerts in Oslo, Norway, to promote their respective solo material before coming together as a-ha to play «Train of Thought», «Take on Me», and two new songs, «Riding the Crest» and «Shadowside», which previewed the new a-ha album, Foot of the Mountain. These events led up to their performance at London's Royal Albert Hall on 24 May.

On April 24, 2009, a-ha surprised their fan base by releasing their new single, «Foot of the Mountain», premiering that day on Norwegian radio. The single had been completed only the night before. The song is based upon the track «The Longest Night» by Magne Furuholmen, which was released on his album A Dot of Black In The Blue Of Your Bliss. The single was released on May 22 in Germany. The band promoted the song by playing it during the Final of Germany's Next Topmodel on May 21 in the Lanxess Arena, Cologne.

Foot of the Mountain, a-ha's ninth studio album, was released in Europe on June 19, 2009. The album's material marked a return to synth pop, similar to the band's earliest work, although the first single (and title track) was not wholly indicative of this. The band collaborated with successful producer Steve Osborne, who has produced albums for such artists as New Order, Starsailor, Doves, Elbow, and U2. «What There Is», an earlier solo track by Magne Furuholmen, aka «Mags», was re-recorded for the album. Foot of the Mountain entered the German album chart at #1, the UK album chart at #5 and debuted on the Billboard European Album Sales Chart at #8.

a-ha headlined the iTunes Live festival on 24 July 2009.The lineup for the festival also includes Simple Minds, Oasis, Snow Patrol, Franz Ferdinand, Kasabian and The Saturdays. All the performances were recorded and made available for download on the iTunes site as with the previous festivals. In the norwegian iTunes store a-ha's release has yet to see the light of day.

On 15 October 2009, the band announced they are to split after a worldwide concert tour in 2010. The same day their final concert was announced to take place in Oslo, Norway, at the Oslo Spektrum arena 4 December 2010, with ticket sales starting the next day. The concert sold out the first day on sale, 16 October. On 19 October 2009, a second farewell show was announced to be given on 3 December 2010, and on 4 November a third show was announced 2 December 2010.