Led by Mark Knopfler, Dire Straits became one of the best-selling guitar bands of the 1980s.
Led by Mark Knopfler, Dire Straits became one of the best-selling guitar bands of the 1980s. Picture: Getty
By Thomas Curtis-Horsfall
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Dire Straits are one of the most successful guitar bands of all time.
Led by their guitar-slinging, headband-wearing, Bob Dylan-sounding frontman Mark Knopfler, the band went from London’s pubs to global arenas in an impressively short space of time.
From their earlier clean, country rock-inspired tone to the synth-driven pop rock of their 1985 mega album Brothers In Arms, they wrote instantly recognisable songs which were heavily rotated on rock radio throughout the late 1970s and 1980s.
Knopfler’s musicianship – alongside John Illsley who was the only other permanent member throughout – pushed Dire Straits to the very top, even nabbing a spot of the legendary Live Aid.
They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018, if selling over 100 million albums worldwide didn’t prove their credentials.
After Dire Straits disbanded in 1988, they didn’t quite reach those heady heights again when they reunited from 1990 to 1995 – bar a commercially lucrative world tour – though they’re rightly considered as one of the best guitar bands of the era.
