Pre 1978

Pre 1978

by | 19th Sep, 2017

Pre 1978 Mark was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on the 12th of August 1949. He was around seven years old when the Knopfler family moved to Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in the North-East of England. Mark attended Gosforth Grammar School. As a young boy he was inspired by his...
1978 to 1983

1978 to 1983

by | 18th Sep, 2017

1978 to 1983 Following gigs in and around the London pub scene, on the 15th of January, 1978, Dire Straits commenced a fifteen night UK tour as the support act for Talking Heads. On the 30th January, an extra gig was thrown in for the band at Leeds Polytechnic. Steve...
1984 to 1989

1984 to 1989

by | 17th Sep, 2017

1984 to 1989 In February, 1984, the Love Over Gold (live)/Solid Rock single was released. The double live Alchemy album came out the following month peaking at #3 in the UK album charts. Mark played on Blanket Roll Blues, a track on Scott Walker’s Climate of...
1990 to 1995

1990 to 1995

by | 16th Sep, 2017

1990 to 1995 Early February 1990, Mark, Steve, Brendan and bassist Marcus Cliffe, play the first ever Notting Hillbillies gig when they perform a short set at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, London. Compered by actor Richard Gere, the show is a fund-raising event on...
1996 to 2002

1996 to 2002

by | 15th Sep, 2017

1996 to 2002 1996 began with Mark featured playing the track Atlantis on ‘Twang! A Tribute to Hank Marvin and the Shadows and teaming up with Waylon Jennings on the track Learning The Game on Waylon’s Not Fade Away (Remembering Buddy Holly) album. Early...
2003 to 2010

2003 to 2010

by | 14th Sep, 2017

2003 to 2010 Fender issue the Mark Knopfler Signature Stratocaster which becomes the fastest selling Fender signature model and is considered to be one of the best of the non-Custom Shop Strats. In February, the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards album, Parallel...
2011 to 2019

2011 to 2019

by | 13th Sep, 2017

2011 to 2019 In January 2011, the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council ruled that the Dire Straits song, Money for Nothing, was unfit for radio and the track was banned. The hour long Planet North TV documentary made for the BBC, Mark Knopfler: A Life In Songs was...