Mark Knopfler

The son of an English mother and a Hungarian Jewish refugee father, Mark Knopfler spent his early years in Scotland before his family moved to Blyth, in the north east of England. Inspired by Shadows' guitarist Hank Marvin, he took up guitar and joined various school bands before training as a journalist, a career he abandoned to commit to music, with the bands Café Racer and Brewers Droop, developing his trademark finger style on acoustic guitar. He formed Dire Straits in 1977 and, as lead singer, guitarist and main songwriter, was their driving force for two decades of extraordinary success, before splitting the band in 1995 to concentrate on his solo career. By then he'd already played with occasional country band the Notting Hillbillies and made his mark with film scores for movies including Local Hero, Cal and Last Exit To Brooklyn, and released his first solo album Golden Heart in 1996. Knopfler wrote another successful movie score in 1997 for Wag The Dog and his solo tours proved as hugely popular as Dire Straits, maintaining his reputation with albums such as The Ragpicker's Dream (2002), Shangri-La (2004), Kill To Get Crimson (2007) and Get Lucky (2009).