Mark Knopfler

Mark Knopfler
Best-known as the lead guitarist and vocalist for the band Dire Straits, Mark Knopfler has crafted a guitar-based rock sound that reflects his respect for rock's roots while still displaying his own originality and inventiveness. He has also made albums as a solo performer and played in other bands. Mark Knopfler has been the recipient of countless awards and accolades including an Honorary Music Degree by Newcastle University in May 1993.

Over the years Mark has collaborated with many artists as a performer and/or a producer. He has at one time or other worked with people such as Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Randy Newman, Buddy Guy, Tina Turner, Phil Lynott, Willy DeVille, Eric Clapton, Waylon Jennings, Chet Atkins, Phil Everly, Vince Gill, Paul Franklin, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, Paul Brady, The Chieftains, Ben. E. King, Mary Chapin-Carpenter, Joan Armatrading, Scott Walker, Jeff Healey, The Judds, Jimmy Nail, Bryan Ferry, Aztec Camera, Steely Dan, Sting, Sonny Landreth, James Taylor, Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. Knopfler and his associated bands have sold over 100 million albums, and performed live to audiences totaling many millions.

Living in Newcastle, England, Mark was greatly interested in music as a young boy. Like many other guitar-toting schoolboys of the 1960s, he served an early apprenticeship by forming and joining anonymous schoolboy bands and listening to guitarists such as Scotty Moore, Jimi Hendrix, Django Reinhardt and James Burton. At sixteen he made a local TV appearance as half of a harmony duo along with school-friend Sue Hercombe. In 1967 he went to study journalism for a year at Harlow Technical College. At the end of the course he secured a job in Leeds as a junior reporter on the Yorkshire Evening Post.

After two years he decided to further his studies and commenced a degree in English at Leeds University. While living in Leeds Mark wrote newspaper articles and reviews on the music scene in and around Leeds. He met a local blues singer/guitarist, Steve Phillips and found that musically they had much in common. As a result they formed a duo called The Duolian String Pickers. They played together on and off over the next five years. Some of their work is featured on Steve's 1996 Just Pickin' album. In 1973 Mark decided to go to London, performed in clubs with various bands, including Brewer's Droop. Then he took up a job as a lecturer at Loughton College in Essex where he remained for two years.

There he formed a working band called, Caf? Racers with friends at Loughton College. In 1977 Knopf 1er decided to become a full-time musician. He settled in London and shared an apartment with his younger brother, David, and John lllsley. With Knopfler on lead guitar, David on rhythm, lllsley on bass, and session drummer Pick Withers, Dire Straits finally emerged.

By the mid-80s Mark was being referred to by some as the quiet man of rock and roll. Dire Straits has remained one of the most well-known and admired Western bands: the popularity of the band extends beyond the UK and US. Its 1985 release ''Brothers in Arms'' became an international hit and spawned several singles including the number one hit "Money for Nothing", which is remembered as being the first video ever to be played on MTV in Britain. The commercial success of ''Brothers in Arms'' was greatly aided by being one of the first fully digitally recorded and produced albums available in the (then) new Compact Disc format. A long period of inactivity followed this period of success; during the next six years, the only releases were a hits-compilation and a live recording. The band's final original studio album, ''On Every Street'' was released in 1991 to mixed reviews and moderate success. Dire Straits decided to call it quits in 1995 after the release of ''Live at the BBC'' when all nine members went on to solo careers.

Mark began his career as a solo performer in 1996 with the release of the Golden Heart album. The heartfelt simplicity of Dire Straits music - chiefly derived from Mark Knopfler's gruff vocals and elegantly burnished Fender guitar tone - came across in songs that sounded both fresh and timeless, and which also possessed a breathtaking accuracy. Mark's second solo album, Sailing To Philadelphia, was released in September 2000.

Mark Knopfler has also scored the music to several films, including Local Hero, The Princess Bride, Cal, Last Exit to Brooklyn and Wag the Dog. First came, Local Hero in 1983 followed in 1984 by the Cal and the Comfort and Joy soundtracks. These were followed in 1987 by The Princess Bride and two years later came Last Exit To Brooklyn. Further soundtrack work has seen the release of Metroland and Wag The Dog both of 1998 and the soundtrack album to the film A Shot At Glory in October 2001.

In 1988, Mark brought the band Dire Straits back together for Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Concert which featured Eric Clapton. Before that Dire Straits had done two concerts for the Prince's Trust in front of Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales and then they appeared at the 1985 Live Aid Concert. In 1995 Mark was featured on the chart-topping Dunblane single Knockin' On Heaven's Door and in September 1997 was one of the artists who performed for Sir George Martin's Music For Montserrat Concert at the Royal Albert Hall.