Paul Waaktaar-Savoy

Paul Waaktaar-Savoy (born Pål Gamst, 6 September 1961 ) is a Norwegian musician and songwriter.

Waaktaar-Savoy is best known for his work as the main songwriter and guitarist in the Norwegian pop band a-ha, which has sold more than 50 million albums worldwide.

Waaktaar-Savoy was born to the Gamst family on 6 September 1961 in Tonsenhagen, Norway, at the outskirts of Oslo, and was raised in Oslo's Manglerud district with his older sister Tongje.

His birth name is Pål Gamst; in the Norwegian language, an acceptable alternate spelling of his first name is Paal.

His father was a pharmacist, and his mother worked at the phone company.

He is a distant relative of Norwegian footballer Morten Gamst Pedersen.

His parents appreciated classical music, and encouraged young Pål first to learn the flute, then to study music composition when his performance skill revealed him to be a child prodigy.

He admired the music of American rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix, and hoped one day to write a rock opera similar to Hair.

He used his mother's family name, Waaktaar, in his stage name, to become Pål Waaktaar.

He also enjoyed reading and painting.

He was a loner, not social at school, and was unsuccessful attracting girlfriends in his teens.

Pål Waaktaar, as he was then known, was lead singer, guitarist and songwriter in the Norwegian rock band Bridges, along with keyboardist Magne Furuholmen (with whom he later formed a-ha with singer Morten Harket), drummers Erik Hagelien and Øystein Jevanord, and bassist Viggo Bondi.

In 1980, Bridges released their only album, the self-financed LP Fakkeltog.

Although the title is Norwegian (meaning torchlight procession), the songs are in English.

Waaktaar-Savoy is the lead guitarist and main songwriter for a-ha, one of the most successful bands of the 1980s.

Once "Q Magazine" named him as one of the best unknown lyricists of his generation.

a-ha performed "Summer Moved On" live at the Nobel-Peace-Prize-Concert following a hiatus.

He has written or co-written most of the band's biggest hits, including "The Sun Always Shines on T.V.", "Hunting High and Low", "Take On Me", the 1987 James Bond theme "The Living Daylights" and the ballad "Summer Moved On".

In addition, Waaktaar-Savoy is also a painter.

Waaktaar-Savoy was named Knights First Class of the Order of St. Olav by King Harald for his services to Norwegian music and his international success.

After this, they decided to record a new album and, in 2000, a-ha had the comeback of the year, followed by a sold-out tour.

In 2001 Waaktaar released his fourth studio album, "Reasons to Stay Indoors", which was again a big success in Norway.

The a-ha album "Lifelines" was released in 2002.

The following tour was documented in a-ha's second official live album, How Can I Sleep with Your Voice in My Head, which was released in March 2003.

On 30 August 2004, Savoy released their fifth studio album called 'Savoy' through their own label, Eleventeen Records.

Savoy achieved great success in Norway, selling over 300,000 records.

They have been nominated for Spellemannprisen (Norwegian equivalent of the Grammy Award) four times and have won three times.

In 2005 the compilation album The Singles: 1984-2004 was released, their last album with WEA.

After that, a-ha signed to Universal.

Analogue was released later that year.

The title-track entered the UK-charts at No. 10.

The band's ninth studio album, Foot of the Mountain was released in 2009.

The official ceremony took place on 6 November 2012.

With his wife Lauren Savoy, and drummer Frode Unneland, he has produced many CDs as the band Savoy.

After that they split, but in 2015 reunited again and released a new studio album, Cast in Steel.

Waaktaar-Savoy has said "Morten is totally different from me. When we first came to London together, he burned all my clothes and re-dressed me from head to toe. I don't care much about clothes, whereas he's always very interested in them. He has given me self-confidence, encourages me to talk to people, not to be afraid and to use the abilities I have. Morten is actually the only one in Norway who had as much ambition as I did. I guess we both have big egos. In a way, we're each sitting in our own little world, while Mags is more down to earth. Mags often has to mediate between Morten and me... It's good that we're so different and still respect each other. The tension between us is creative. No one sings like Morten. He's got what it takes and I have great faith in him."

The three members of a-ha, Morten Harket, Magne Furuholmen and Waaktaar-Savoy, were appointed Knights of the 1st Class of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav for their contribution to Norwegian music.

The Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav is granted as a reward for distinguished services to their country and mankind.

At the request of Harket, a-ha performed the Fakkeltog song "The Vacant" (renamed "Sox of the Fox") during their 2017 MTV Unplugged performance, released as MTV Unplugged – Summer Solstice.

An unreleased Bridges song called "The Juicy Fruit Song" later evolved into "Lesson One" and then into the a-ha hit "Take On Me".