Mark Freuder Knopfler OBE (born August 12, 1949 in Glasgow, Scotland) is a British guitarist, singer, and ballad maker. He is right-referred to as a lead guitar player & singer for the band Dire Straits, but has too processed albums as a solo performing artist & played within more elastic (like a Notting Hillbillies). He has as well performed in act by more creative person, like Bob Dylan, and produced albums for creative person like Tina Turner, Randy Newman, and (once again) Dylan. Additionally, he has scored a music to many films, including Local Hero, The Princess Bride, Cal, Last Exit to Brooklyn and Wag the Dog.

Mark's personal moved from either Glasgow to Newcastle upon Tyne in the mid-1950s. He was classically trained on the guitar as a teen. Knopfler worked as a journalist for the Yorkshire Evening Post, and then as a lecturer at Loughton College, before he became the good-whale musician in the late 1970s. He is noted for existence left-dextrorotatory, however swimming perfect-handed, & for fingerpicking instead of strumming or utilizing the plectrum; fingerpicking is usually associated sustaining a acoustic guitar, but Knopfler ordinarily (though non universally) plays an electric guitar, particularly the Fender Stratocaster. Although nowadays he has the signature guitar from either Fender, he is besides known for his signature Pensa-Suhr MK series (now called Pensa).

Knopfler & his associated elastic st& sold assibilate 100 million albums, and performed survive to audiences totalling numbers of hundreds to thousands. He has twin sons (Benji & Joseph, born 1987), and ii girl Isabella (1998) and Katya (2003). Mark holds the degree around English from Leeds University and has been awarded an honorary music degree from Newcastle University.

Albums
By using Dire Straits understand listing at Dire Straits Solo Golden Heart (1996) Sailing to Philadelphia (2000) ''The Ragpicker's Dream (2002) Shangri-La (2004) One Take Radio Sessions (June 2005) Soundtrack Local Hero Cal The Princess Bride Last Exit To Brooklyn Metroland Wag the Dog A Shot at Glory Others Missing... Presumed Having a Good Time (Notting Hillbillies (The band is with his friends)) Neck and Neck (with Chet Atkins) Slow Train Coming (with Bob Dylan) Infidels (with Bob Dylan) Release (with David Knopfler) Never Told A Soul (with John Illsley) Glass (by having John Illsley) Sea Fever (sustaining William Topley)June 2005

Trivia
His latest album Shangri-La was recorded at a Shangri-La Studio within Malibu, California, the same place in which The Band made recordings for The Last Waltz

In the latest promo for his newly album Shangri-La in his official web site he said that his todays line-higher of Glenn Worf (bass), Guy Fletcher (keyboards), Chad Cromwell (drums), Richard Bennett (guitar) and Matt Rollings (piano) play Dire Straits songs better than Dire Straits did.

Formed when you took a Golden Heart'' sessions, a main line-higher of his solo band, likewise referred to as "The 96'ers", has lasted very much hanker than any Dire Straits line-higher.

Around keeping by owning British tradition, he has been known to sip tea on stage during survive performances (Bangalore, India, 7 March 2005, Copenhagen, Denmark 16 May 2005, and Up to date York, America 30 June 2005). Around Detroit, America, 8 July 2005 his guitarist Richard Bennett likewise joined around sucking down tea. Richard Bennett once again joined Mark Knopfler in stage for a cup of tea in 23 July 2005 within Berkeley, California, USA & likewise in Tallinn, Estonia on 9 May 2005.

British humourist Douglas Adams about Knopfler: "Mark Knopfler has an extraordinary ability to make a Schecter Custom Stratocaster hoot and sing like angels on a Saturday night, exhausted from being good all week and needing a stiff beer." (look at: So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish, published London, 1984)

A dinosaur mintage masiakasaurus knopfleri was named for Knopfler. [http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/template.cfm?name=knopfler]