Profile of Mark Knopfler on Famous Like Me

Mark Freuder Knopfler OBE (born August 12, 1949 in Glasgow, Scotland) is a British guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is best-known as the lead guitarist and vocalist for the band Dire Straits, but has also made albums as a solo performer and played in other bands (such as the Notting Hillbillies). He has also performed on work by other artists, such as Bob Dylan, and produced albums for artists such as Tina Turner, Randy Newman, and (again) Dylan. In addition, he has scored the music to several films, including Local Hero, The Princess Bride, Cal, Last Exit to Brooklyn and Wag the Dog.

Mark's family moved from Glasgow to Newcastle upon Tyne in the mid-1950s. He was classically trained on the guitar as a teenager. Knopfler worked as a journalist for the Yorkshire Evening Post, and then as a lecturer at Loughton College, before he became a full-time musician in the late 1970s. He is noted for being left-handed, but playing right-handed, and for fingerpicking instead of strumming or using a plectrum; fingerpicking is usually associated with the acoustic guitar, but Knopfler usually (though not always) plays an electric guitar, particularly the Fender Stratocaster. Although at present he has a signature guitar from Fender, he is also known for his signature Pensa-Suhr MK series (now known as Pensa).

Knopfler and his associated bands have sold over 100 million albums, and performed live to audiences totalling many millions. He has twin sons (Benji and Joseph, born 1987), and two daughters Isabella (1998) and Katya (2003). Mark holds a degree in English from Leeds University and has been awarded an honorary music degree from Newcastle University.

Albums

• With Dire Straits
  • see list at Dire Straits
• Solo
  • Golden Heart (1996)
  • Sailing to Philadelphia (2000)
  • The Ragpicker's Dream (2002)
  • Shangri-La (2004)
  • One Take Radio Sessions (Knopfler album) (June 2005)
• Soundtrack
  • Local Hero
  • Cal
  • The Princess Bride
  • Last Exit To Brooklyn
  • Metroland
  • Wag The Dog
  • A Shot at Glory
• Others
  • Missing... Presumed Having a Good Time (Notting Hillbillies (The band is with his friends))
  • Neck and Neck (with Chet Atkins)
  • Slow Train Coming (with Bob Dylan)
  • Infidels (with Bob Dylan)
  • Release (with David Knopfler)
  • Never Told A Soul (with John Illsley)
  • Glass (with John Illsley)
  • Sea Fever (with William Topley)June 2005

Trivia

• His latest album Shangri-La was recorded at the Shangri-La Studio in Malibu, California, the same place where The Band made recordings for The Last Waltz

• In the latest promo for his new album Shangri-La on his official website he said that his current line-up of Glenn Worf (bass), Guy Fletcher (keyboards), Chad Cromwell (drums), Richard Bennett (guitar) and Matt Rollings (piano) play Dire Straits songs better than Dire Straits did.

• Formed during the Golden Heart sessions, the main line-up of his solo band, also known as "The 96'ers", has lasted much longer than any Dire Straits line-up.

• In keeping with British tradition, he has been known to sip tea on stage during live performances (Bangalore, India, 7 March 2005, Copenhagen, Denmark 16 May 2005, and New York, USA 30 June 2005). In Detroit, USA, 8 July 2005 his guitarist Richard Bennett also joined in drinking tea. Richard Bennett again joined Mark Knopfler on stage for a cup of tea on 23 July 2005 in Berkeley, California, USA and also in Tallinn, Estonia on 9 May 2005.

• British humorist Douglas Adams about Knopfler: "Mark Knopfler has an extraordinary ability to make a Schecter Custom Stratocaster hoot and sing like angels on a Saturday night, exhausted from being good all week and needing a stiff beer." (see: So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish, published London, 1984)

• The dinosaur species masiakasaurus knopfleri was named for Knopfler.

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