Mark Knopfler Caricature

Mark Knopfler Caricature, illustrated here in 1985 with his white Schecter Stratocaster, age 36.

Knopfler is a British songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He was the lead guitarist, singer, and songwriter for the rock band Dire Straits, which he co-founded with his younger brother, David Knopfler, in 1977. He was born in Glasgow, Scotland and raised near Newcastle upon Tyne, England.

Dire Straits recorded six albums, including Brothers in Arms (1985), one of the bestselling albums in history. After they disbanded in 1995, Knopfler began a solo career, and has produced nine solo albums.

The band was formed in 1977 with Mark as lead guitarist and singer, David Knopfler as rhythm guitarist, John Illsley as bass guitarist, and Pick Withers as drummer.
In 1978, their first album, the eponymous Dire Straits, received little fanfare in the UK, but when “Sultans of Swing” was released as a single, it became a chart hit in the Netherlands and album sales took off – first across Europe, and then in the United States and Canada, and finally the UK. The group’s second album, Communiqué, followed in 1979.

Their third album, Making Movies, released in 1980, moved towards more complex arrangements and production. The album included many of Mark Knopfler’s most personal compositions, most notably “Romeo and Juliet” and “Tunnel of Love.”
The studio album which followed was Love Over Gold, released in 1982. This featured the tracks “Private Investigations,” “Telegraph Road,” “Industrial Disease,” “It Never Rains,” and the title track to the same album.

Dire Straits’ biggest studio album by far was their fifth, Brothers in Arms, recorded at Air Studios Montserrat and released in May 1985. It became an international blockbuster that has now sold more than 30 million copies worldwide, and is the fourth best selling album in UK chart history. Brothers in Arms spawned several chart singles including the US # 1 hit “Money for Nothing”, “So Far Away”, “Walk of Life”, and the album’s title track.
In 1991 the band embarked on a gruelling world tour featuring 300 shows in front of some 7.1 million ticket-buying fans. This was to be Dire Straits’ final world tour which drove the band into the ground, and ultimately led to the group’s final dissolution in 1995. Knopfler began his solo career in 1996.

Knopfler is left-handed, but plays the guitar right-handed.

Knopfler was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Dire Straits in 2018.