Mark Knopfler is a renowned British singer, composer and rock musician. His full name is Mark Freuder Knopfler, he was born on August 12 in 1949 in Glasgow, Scotland.
Biography
Due to the fact that Mark's father was Jewish, he had to emigrate from Hungary to Glasgow in 1939. There he met Mark's mother, Louise Mary. Mark has an older sister named Ruth and a younger brother, David.
When Mark was 7 years old, his family moved to Newcastle. Mark grew up in a musical family, his dad played different instruments. It was he who taught Mark to play the violin and piano, but Mark liked to play the guitar more, his favorite style, in which he later wrote his songs, was country. His favorite subject in school was English, which Mark studied diligently.
Having matured, the musician left for Leeds, where he worked as a junior reporter for a newspaper. There he met a local musician - Steve Phillips. He, like Mark, loved the guitar and played it. More and more friends with Steve, Mark realized that he wanted to become a musician. Steve taught Mark a lot of guitar playing tricks and explained all the subtleties. In the late 60's they decided to form the duo Duolian String Pickers.
In 1973, when Mark graduated from the university and received his degree in English teacher, he left for London, already confidently understanding that he would be a musician. In 1977, Mark and David form the famous Dire Straits. They are joined by their friends from the university: John Illsey and Peak Whiters.
It was Peak who suggested giving the group this name. Further, they managed to collect 120 pounds, which at that time was a lot of money. The guys spent it to record the song "Sultans of Swing" and send it to the BBC radio broadcast. This event played a major role in their lives. People were delighted with the song, many record companies were interested in it.
Creativity and career
In 1978, the first album was released, which was called the same as the group. And while their debut song was still popular, their first album did not hold high chart ratings for long.
A little later they released their second album called "Communique". This album, like the first one, does not gain popularity in the UK, but it becomes very popular in Australia.
In 1982, Mark was the author and wrote the song "Private Dancer" for the film "Local Hero". This was followed by the group's most successful years. In 1883 they made several tours, and after that there were two concerts with video filming. In 1984 their new album quickly gained popularity in the UK. But the main success was the release of the album "Brothers in Arms", after the release of which, they were recognized as the best band in the world.
The band changed styles very often, over time their country music began to change to rock blues. This happened mostly due to the fact that Mel Collins joined the group. He was a saxophonist.
It was the peak of fame. In 1995, Mark decided to perform solo. After that, he released 10 more albums.
Personal life
And a little about his personal life. Mark Knopfler has married only 3 times. His first wife was Katie White, to whom he was not indifferent since school. The artist did not live long with his second wife and the couple broke up in 1993. In this marriage, 2 twin sons were born. Finally, for the third time, he married Kitty Aldridge. She gave birth to Mark two daughters - Katya and Isabella Ruby Rose.
