At the end of the 1970s, Mark and David Knopfler created the group Dire Straits with two musician friends: Pick Withers and John Illsley. Far from struggling at their beginnings, the four artists benefit on the contrary from a fairly immediate success. Their talent was first noticed by one of the BBC Radio London hosts who broadcast their title “Sultans of Swing” on the airwaves. Dire Straits immediately signed their first record contract before being spotted by Warner Bros. Records, a New York label that quickly took the group under its wing. Dire Straits’ first album was a success, like the second which was released in 1979 and which earned him two Grammy nominations the following year. In 1980, only three years after the group’s creation, Dire Straits was named “revelation of the year” and “best rock group vocal performance” for the title “Sultans of Swing”, which remains elsewhere still today one of his greatest successes. If Dire Straits don’t win the titles this time around, these international-level nominations are already a big win for a fledgling band. At the same time, Dire Straits won the Brit Award for best musical group of the year in England.
The 1980s: an anthology of prizes
In 1985, Dire Straits released their fifth studio album, “Brothers in Arms”, an opus that would quickly become legendary in the history of international rock. Considered the best of all his albums, “Brothers in Arms” will be awarded numerous times and over a period of several years. Remarkably, this album broke sales records, and was listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the first CD to sell one million copies. “Brothers in Arms” contains many key titles including the famous “Money for Nothing”, which will allow the group to win the Grammy Award for best rock performance in February 1986. The same year, Dire Straits’ fifth album is nominated in the category of best recording, a title which he also won hands down. And the awards don’t stop there for the memorable year 1986: the group is once again elected best English group at the Brit Awards, wins the Juno Award for best international album, as well as two MTV Video Music Awards for the clip of ” Money for Nothing”.
The 2000s
After a last studio album with mixed success in 1991, Dire Straits disbanded, and Mark Knopfler began a solo career. However, the group meets occasionally for live performances on the occasion of certain events. In 2005, a new version of “Brothers in Arms” was released in limited edition on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the album. Success is still there, and the reissued album is again rewarded with a Grammy Award. At the end of 2009, the career of Dire Straits was rewarded with a Heritage Award, a tribute also symbolized by the installation of a commemorative plaque at the place where the group played its first street concert in London. Finally, in December 2017, Dire Straits was inducted into the “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame”, a museum dedicated to rock music located in Cleveland in the United States.
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