Mark Knopfler

Scottish musician, singer and songwriter, who was the main force behind the group "Dire Straits." The group’s debut album in 1978, featuring hits like "Sultans of Swing," established them as an international success, and by the mid-1980s, their "Brothers In Arms" album was one of the best-selling albums of all time.

The son of an architect, Knopfler was born in Scotland. When he was seven, his family moved to England where he attended Gosforth Grammar School. Musically inspired by an uncle, he had his heart set on an expensive flamingo-pink Fender Strat guitar, but had to settle for the less expensive Hofner Super Solid. Guitar in hand, he spent his school days playing with various bands, and at 16, appeared on local television in a duo with a school friend. Exhibiting an aptitude for English, he attended Harlow Technical College in 1967, to study journalism, and soon obtained a job in Leeds as a junior reporter and rock critic for the Yorkshire Evening Post. Two years later, he went back to school at Leeds University to obtain a degree in English. While attending college, he worked as a reporter, and played in a duo called "The Dualin' String Pickers." His first record, "Summer’s Coming My Way," was recorded soon thereafter.

Knopfler graduated in 1973 and headed to London in an attempt to break into the rock scene. His time there was spent refining his musical style while playing in various bands, but the arrival of his younger brother David, born on 27 December 1952 in Glasgow, laid the foundation for the group Dire Straits, formed in 1977. The heartfelt simplicity of their music, with Knopfler’s gruff vocalizations, was fresh and timely, and fans constantly tell him that his music has changed their lives. Very shy and intensely private by nature, he is easily embarrassed by such praise and some call him "the quiet man of rock ’n’ roll.