He is a singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer and
movie composer born Mark Freuder Knopfler in Glasgow, Scotland, to an
Anglo-Hungarian family who had fled from Hungary during the fascist
regime.When he was nine years
old they settled in the North of England at his mother's hometown of
Newcastle-upon-Tyne and it was here that he started to listen to boogie-woogie
music performed by his uncle on harmonica and piano.The impression this left led to him
getting a guitar as a teenager and performing with various bands as well as
appearing in a duo with a school-friend on a local television show when he
was 16.He didn't leave
school to study music though and concentrated on journalism at Harlow
Technical College before getting a job as a junior newspaper reporter and
as a sideline performed in the duo The Duolian String Pickers.He stayed with the Yorkshire
Evening Post newspaper for around two years before moving on to lecture at
Loughton College and take further studies at the University of Leeds to
gain his English degree.During this time he was a member of Cafi Racers with friends from
college.He was married for a
brief time but then after splitting up with his wife he moved to the London
area and joined the band Brewers Droop that hailed from High Wycombe.Around that time he also made a
demo of "Summer's Coming My Way" at a London studio.1977 would be his turning point as
this is when he and his brother, David, co-founded the extremely successful
rock band Dire Straits.They
recorded their self-titled debut album in 1978 to little attention, but
once the single "Sultans of Swing" appeared in the singles chart then it
suddenly increased in popularity in the UK and Europe, followed by the
United States.They would then
begin nearly two decades of touring and recording albums with hit singles
that included "Romeo and Juliet",
"
Private Investigations", "So Far Away", "Twisting by the Pool",
"Walk of Life" and "Money for Nothing" which has the distinction of being
the first video aired on MTV in the UK.During this time he would also marry for the second time
in 1983 and become the father of twin boys in 1987; the couple split in
1993.Also in 1987 Dire
Straits took a break and he became one of the artists involved in "Ferry
Aid" after the Zeebrugge ferry disaster the ensuing charity single, which
was a version of "Let It Be", topped the charts in March.That same year he put together the
group The Notting Hillbillies, which used more of a country music
influence.His interest in
country music would go even further when he collaborated on the album Neck
and Neck with Chet Atkins in the '90s.Dire Straits got back together in 1988 for the Wembley
Stadium tribute in London for the tribute to Nelson Mandela for his 70th
birthday where they performed with his friend Eric Clapton and Elton
John.He toured and recorded with
The Notting Hillbillies in 1990 and then, once again, Dire Straits got back
together to tour with Elton John and Slowhand.They recorded their final studio album in 1991 and went
on a final world tour, which carried on right through until the latter end
of 1992.After having released
the contractual album Live at the BBC in 1995 the group disbanded,
this time officially, and he ventured out into his solo career with his
band The '96ers.That same
year he also appeared on the single "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" which was
released in the wake of the Dunblane school-shooting tragedy. 2002 saw the
band getting back together briefly to perform at four charity concerts and
that same year he was also in the process of releasing his third solo
album.The tour was shelved
though as he was in a motorcycle accident and suffered several broken
bones.After he recovered he
recorded his next album in California and resumed his tour plans, which
included venues in the Middle East and India.Having worked with many, many artists over the course of
his career to date he has featured live or worked on recordings with John
Anderson, Joan Armatrading, Clint Black, Mary Chapin-Carpenter, The
Chieftains, The Dandy Warhols, Willie DeVille, Phil Everly, Guy Fletcher,
Bryan Ferry, John Fogerty, Vince Gill, Nanci Griffith, Emmylou Harris,
Jools Holland, Waylon Jennings, George Jones, Ben E. King, Kris
Kristofferson, Sonny Landreth, Lindisfarne, Phil Lynott, Mink DeVille, Hank
Marvin, Van Morrison, Jimmy Nail, Randy Newman, The Shadows, James Taylor,
Tina Turner, Scott Walker, Glen Worf, Bill Wyman and Weird Al Yankovic to
name just a few.The albums he
has appeared on as a musician and/or producer are numerous and include his
own Grammy nominated All the Roadrunning plus Golden Heart, Kill
to Get Crimson, The Ragpicker's Dream, Sailing to Philadelpia and Shangri-La
as well as Alchemy, Brothers in Arms, Communique, Love Over Gold,
Making Movies and On Every Street with Dire Straits, Knife
by Aztec Camera, Take the Weather With You by Jimmy Buffett, After
Midnight: Live by Eric Clapton, Infadels by Bob Dylan, Damn
Right, I've Got the Blues by Buddy Guy, Songbird: Rare Tracks &
Forgotten Gems by Emmylou Harris,Small World Big Band by Jools Holland & His Rhythm &
Blues Orchestra, 80 by B.B. King, Love Over and Over by Kate
& Anna McGarrigle, MissingPresumed Having a Good Time by The
Notting Hillbillies, Another World by Gerry Rafferty, Rock
Connection by Cliff Richard, Gaucho by Steely Dan, Human
by Rod Stewart, Nothing Like the Sun by Sting and Soldier of
Fortune by Thin Lizzy.As
a film composer he began writing movie scores in the early 1980s with
soundtracks such as Local Hero, which was his first success in 1983,
and then Cal, Comfort and Joy, Last Exit to Brooklyn, The Princess Bride
and Wag the Dog.Recognised for his contribution to music he was awarded an Order of
the British Empire (OBE) in 1999 and has received honorary doctorates in
music from Newcastle and Sunderland Universities.Acclaimed for his fingerstyle performance on the guitar,
he was given the position of No. 27 on the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All
Time" by Rolling Stone magazine.He is also recognised for drinking tea while he's on
stage and has had the newly discovered specis of dinosaur, Masiakasaurus
knopfleri, named after him.He currently continues to tour and record and lives with his third
wife and their two daughters in Chelsea, London.
