Mark Knopfler OBE (born 12 August 1949) is a British guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer and film score composer.
Mark Knopfler is best known as the lead guitarist, vocalist and songwriter for the British rock band Dire Straits, which he co-founded in 1977 with his brother David. After Dire Straits disbanded in 1995, Knopfler continued to record and produce albums as a solo artist under his own name. Knopfler has played in other groups occasionally, such as the The Notting Hillbillies, and has guested on works by other artists, including The Dandy Warhols, Bob Dylan, Bryan Ferry, Eric Clapton, Jeff Healey, John Fogerty, Jools Holland, Steely Dan, Emmylou Harris, Sonny Landreth, Phil Lynott, Joan Armatrading, the Chieftains, and Chet Atkins. He has produced albums for artists such as Tina Turner, Willy DeVille, Randy Newman, Bob Dylan and even “Weird Al” Yankovic.
His musical scores include Metroland, Local Hero, Cal, Last Exit to Brooklyn, Wag the Dog, and Rob Reiner’s classic, The Princess Bride.
He is one of the most respected fingerstyle guitarists of the modern rock era and was ranked #27 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.”
Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits have sold in excess of 120 million albums to date.
Knopfler was born in Glasgow, Scotland to an English mother and a Hungarian Jewish father, an architect whose communist sympathies forced him to flee the regime of his native Hungary.[citation needed] The family first moved to Scotland, but then settled in Knopfler’s mother’s home town of Newcastle upon Tyne in the north-east of England when he was around 7 years old. There, he and his younger brother David attended Gosforth Grammar School, where he was inspired by his uncle Kingsley’s harmonica and boogie-woogie piano playing. Later, in his teens, he wanted to buy an expensive Fiesta Red Fender Stratocaster just like Hank Marvin’s, but had to settle for a £50 twin-pickup Höfner Super Solid.During the 1960s he formed and joined anonymous schoolboy bands, and listened to singers such as Elvis Presley and guitarists Chet Atkins, Scotty Moore, B.B King, Django Reinhardt and James Burton. At age 16, he made a local TV appearance as half of a harmony duo along with a friend from school named Sue Hercombe.
In 1967, having displayed a flair for English,Knopfler studied 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. Two years later, he decided to further his studies and eventually went on to graduate with a degree in English at the University of Leeds.He left his job as a reporter, and, hoping to pursue a career in music, performed with pub bands around town. He worked as a part-time lecturer at Loughton College and played with mates in a band called the Café Racers, during this period. He also played in a few bands such as the Silver Heels and a duo with long-time associate UK bluesman Steve Phillips who was later to be a member of The Notting Hillbillies. It was also in Pudsey, Leeds, that in 1974 Knopfler recorded a “demo” tape of an original (but unreleased) song; “Summer’s Coming My Way”.
Knopfler later moved to London and joined a High Wycombe-based band called Brewers Droop, appearing on the album “The Booze Brothers”. One night while spending some time with friends, the only guitar available was an old acoustic with a badly warped neck that had been strung with extra-light strings to make it playable. Even so, he found it impossible to play unless he finger-picked it. He said in a later interview, “That was where I found my ‘voice’ on guitar.” Mark joined brother David in a band under the name Café Racers but also found himself another musical partner in David’s flatmate, John Illsley, initially a guitarist who changed over to bass guitar and became the only other member of Dire Straits to figure throughout the band’s career.
In addition to his work in Dire Straits and solo, Mark Knopfler has made several contributions to country music. In 1988 he formed country-focused band The Notting Hillbillies,with Guy Fletcher, Brendan Croker and Steve Phillips. The Notting Hillbillies sole studio album, Missing…Presumed Having a Good Time was released in 1990 and featured the minor hit single “Your Own Sweet Way”. Knopfler further emphasised his country music influences with his collaboration with Chet Atkins, Neck and Neck, which was also released in 1990. “Poor Boy Blues”, taken from that collaboration, peaked at #92.
Knopfler’s other contributions include writing and playing guitar on John Anderson’s 1992 single “When It Comes to You” (from his album Seminole Wind). In 1993 Mary Chapin Carpenter also released a cover of the Dire Straits song “The Bug”. Randy Travis released another of Knopfler’s songs, “Are We In Trouble Now”, in 1996. In that same year, Knopfler’s solo single “Darling Pretty” reached a peak of #87.
Knopfler is featured on Kris Kristofferson’s album “The Austin Sessions”, (on the track “Please Don’t Tell Me How The Story Ends”) released in 1999 by Atlantic Records.
In 2006 Knopfler and Emmylou Harris made a country album together titled All the Roadrunning. Knopfler also charted two singles on the Canadian country music singles chart.
